What Does CS:GO Mean?

If you’re wondering: “What does CS:GO mean?”, the answer is that it is an abbreviation of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, one of the oldest first-person shooter games in the world, and is often the game with the highest amount of players on Steam.

So, what does CS:GO stand for? Why has it become so popular even though it has been around for decades (if we count 1.6)?

Well, in this article, we’ll expand into what this game is, and what it means to the players and the gaming world. Let’s have a look!

Counter-Strike was originally a mod for Half-Life, but its rights got bought out by Valve and it was turned into a standalone game. This is when the legendary CS 1.6 came out and when CS quickly became a popular multiplayer choice for most gamers.

After the original, we got Counter-Strike Condition Zero and Counter-Strike Source, but the player base did not find these two to be a good replacement for 1.6. So, there was a big split of the player base between 1.6 and CS:S (Source). Even pro players preferred sticking with 1.6.

However, in 2012, all that changed when Valve released the “true” successor to CS 1.6 and that was Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. 

CS:GO brought a lot of new features to the table. They implemented various game modes into the game rather than relying on custom maps. Dedicated matchmaking, more weapons, better graphics and sounds, and skins. But, one of the most impactful implementations was the competitive ranking system.

With competitive CS, players now had an incentive to keep on playing. Every new rank felt like a reward and getting the Global Elite rank was a goal for every player. So the grind to the top never stopped which is how CS:GO accumulated millions of players and even pulled in the most hardcore CS 1.6 fans.

As we mentioned previously, one of CS:GO’s strong suits compared to its predecessors is the implemented game modes.

Here’s a list of all game modes you could’ve played in CS:GO:

Deathmatch 

A free-for-all mode in which all players fight each other, spawn randomly on the map, and accumulate points with kills. The player with the most points wins and gains the most level experience. Usually, most people use this game mode to warm up or train their aim and movement.

Competitive Matchmaking

Competitive Matchmaking is the staple CS:GO 5vs5 scenario and the matchmaking is based on ranking/skill groups. In this game mode, Terrorists have 1 minute and 55 seconds to plant the bomb on site A or B, while the CTs need to prevent them from doing so, or, defuse the bomb if it is planted. 

In one competitive match, a maximum of 30 rounds is possible, with one half lasting 15 rounds. The 15-round half exists so that both teams get to play both CT and T side. The first team that gets 16 rounds wins. If the match ends with a 15-15 score line, the game ends in a tie.

What makes these matches competitive is the economy in place. Both teams have a set amount of money at the beginning and a certain amount of money they can earn with each round which they can use to purchase weapons and equipment. So, winning or losing rounds can heavily affect the economy of one team, which is why strategizing how money is spent is essential.

Casual

This game mode copies the competitive system to the dot, with the main 3 differences being that players of all skill groups can queue together, players can join at any time of the match, and there is no penalty for leaving early.

Wingman

Wingman uses a very similar scenario to competitive and casual, however, in this game mode, you’re playing 2vs2 into sectioned-off parts (one site) of the map. It also has a separate skill group.

Arms Race

Arms Race, or what most people know as “gun game” is a game mode similar to Deathmatch, but split into two teams. The main feature of this mode is that with every two kills, the player progresses to a different weapon. Every player progresses through 15-16 weapons and reaches the “Golden Knife”.

Once they get a kill with it, the player wins and the match ends.

Flying Scoutsman

A game mode in which players can only use the SSG 08 (scout) and knife). Gravity is significantly reduced, but in-air acceleration is also greatly increased, so players “fly” high with every jump, but can also reliably maneuver through the air.

Demolition

Demolition is a bomb defusal scenario similar to casual, but there is only one bomb site and players can’t buy weapons, instead, there’s a gun progression system similar to Arms Race. However, the progression occurs only after the round ends.

Danger Zone

During the battle-royale gold rush, Valve released Danger Zone, a BR game mode in which 18 players fight in an arena. The last surviving team (of two) wins the match.

In Danger Zone, players first choose a location on the map in which they’ll spawn and have nothing but their fists. Players then need to scavenge their surroundings to find cash (or items) which they can use to purchase weapons and equipment.

An interesting concept, but Danger Zone was never a very popular game mode in CS:GO which might be why we never got it in CS2.

We hope that our short overview of the history of CS and in-depth explanation of how CS:GO is played will help you understand what CS:GO is and what it means to the gaming community.

Unfortunately, CS:GO is now gone and you can’t really experience what the game had to offer. But, even though CS2 is still lacking some features and game modes (Flying Scoutsman), you can still have a similar experience to CS:GO.