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Counter-Strike vs Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2 is the more played game right now: 1,052,328 players on Steam against 12,496 for Counter-Strike, about 84× more players. Counter-Strike 2 has been ahead for 135 days straight.
Counter-Strike counters with better Steam reviews: 97% positive vs 86%. Counter-Strike 2 is free to play, while Counter-Strike costs $9.99. Across all tracked metrics, Counter-Strike 2 leads 7 of 10.
Players over time
Live Steam player counts. Counter-Strike is read every 10 minutes, Counter-Strike 2 every 5 minutes. Both are Action games.
Which one have you played more?
Coilr members average 20.3h in Counter-Strike and 418h in Counter-Strike 2. Connect your Steam account and this row fills in with your own hours instead — then keeps tracking both, so you can see which one you are actually still playing.
Counter-Strike
20.3h
average of 56 members
Counter-Strike 2
418h
average of 348 members
See my hours in both
Free · read-only via Steam OpenID · no password · delete anytime
Counter-Strike
8,402Counter-Strike 2
747,660Daily averages · latest day · Counter-Strike 2, 89× the players of Counter-Strike
One point per day, averaged · Your time zone · drag or use arrow keys to read the lines
Tracked by Coilr since April 2026 · Counter-Strike is read every 10 minutes, Counter-Strike 2 every 5 minutes · methodology
These are Steam players only. A game that also runs on its own launcher, a storefront of its own or on console has players this number cannot see, so read it as a comparison of Steam audiences rather than of total ones.
Head-to-head record
Counter-Strike 2 has had the higher daily player count for the last 135 days, every day since Coilr began tracking both games.
Counter-Strike led 0 daysCounter-Strike 2 led 135 days
- Days tracked
- 135
- Current streak
- 135 days
- Counter-Strike 2
- Lead changes
- 0
- Closest gap
- 99%
- May 28, 2026
How this works: each game's daily average concurrent players (from Coilr's own Steam readings), compared on the 135 days where both games have data. Whichever averages higher leads that day.
Side by side
Every number Coilr has for both games. The better figure in each row is in green.
| Metric | Counter-Strike | Counter-Strike 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Players right now | 12,496 | 1,052,328 |
| 24-hour peak | 13,325 | 1,205,009 |
| 7-day average | 8,596 | 799,269 |
| 30-day average | 8,435 | 817,236 |
| 30-day trend | +4% | ±0% |
| Peak (tracked) | 14,636 | 1,552,731 |
| Steam reviews | 97% positive | 86% positive |
| Recent reviews (3 mo) | 95% positive | 78% positive |
| Total reviews | 262,361 | 9,928,279 |
| Owners (SteamSpy est.) | ~10,000,000 | ~100,000,000 |
| Release date | Nov 1, 2000 | Aug 21, 2012 |
| Price | $9.99 | Free to play |
Players by month
Monthly average and peak concurrent players on Steam, from Coilr's own tracking (readings every few minutes for the biggest games, hourly averages beyond 30 days).
| Month | Counter-Strike | Counter-Strike 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg | Peak | Avg | Peak | |
| Apr 2026 | — | — | 733,188 | 1,347,914 |
| May 2026 | 11,355 | 11,957 | 842,402 | 1,484,941 |
| Jun 2026 | 8,005 | 12,838 | 917,771 | 1,552,731 |
| Jul 2026 | 7,945 | 12,789 | 853,539 | 1,412,513 |
| Aug 2026 | 7,957 | 12,576 | 831,579 | 1,317,175 |
| Sep 2026 | 7,980 | 13,254 | 814,828 | 1,452,036 |
| Oct 2026 (so far) | 8,724 | 14,636 | 810,135 | 1,404,227 |
Frequently asked
Which has more players, Counter-Strike or Counter-Strike 2?
Counter-Strike 2 currently has more players: 1,052,328 concurrent players on Steam vs 12,496 for Counter-Strike, about 84× more players.
Is Counter-Strike bigger than Counter-Strike 2 on Steam?
Over the last 30 days Counter-Strike averaged 8,435 concurrent players and Counter-Strike 2 averaged 817,236. By that measure Counter-Strike 2 is currently the bigger game.
Has Counter-Strike ever had more players than Counter-Strike 2?
Not in Coilr's head-to-head tracking: Counter-Strike 2 has had the higher daily average concurrent player count on Steam on every one of the 135 days both games have been tracked.
Is Counter-Strike better than Counter-Strike 2?
By Steam review score, Counter-Strike rates higher: 97% positive across 262,361 reviews vs 86% across 9,928,279 for Counter-Strike 2. Counter-Strike 2 has the larger player base right now (1,052,328 vs 12,496 concurrent). Player counts, ratings, price and trend are compared side by side above.
Is Counter-Strike growing or declining on Steam?
Counter-Strike averaged 8,435 concurrent players over the last 30 days, up 4% vs the previous 30 days. Its highest tracked player count is 14,636.
Is Counter-Strike 2 growing or declining on Steam?
Counter-Strike 2 averaged 817,236 concurrent players over the last 30 days, roughly flat vs the previous 30 days. Its highest tracked player count is 1,552,731.
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