In the early days of Counter-Strike where it existed as a mod of Half-Life, it was pretty much free-to-play, where anyone could get their hands on it. However ultimately when Valve decided to launch Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the company made it a paid title. Granted it wasn’t the most expensive game we’ve seen, but it was definitely a change.
However it seems that has since changed again because Valve has announced that CS:GO will now be a free-to-play title. Gamers who have since paid for the game back in the day, these players will be upgraded to Prime Status which used to cost $15 (on top of the $15 that was the original price of the game).
Valve has also announced a new battle royale mode called Danger Zone where players will fight up to 18 other players to be the last person standing. It is easy to see why Valve has opted to go this route, given how Epic’s Fortnite has made the battle royale genre so popular, and by making it free-to-play, it encourages more players to take up the game where in the past, the $15 price tag might have deterred some.
Whether or not this will be able to dethrone Fortnite’s popularity is unclear (although we have to say it does feel unlikely), but long-time players of CS:GO might be able to appreciate the change in pace.
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