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After charging players for access to Ranked matches, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive saw its player count drop by over 100,000. It still remains one of the most popular titles on Steam, but it's clear the community wasn't too happy with the latest move by Valve.
As spotted on SteamCharts by Dot Esports, the CS:GO player base saw a staggering 16.75% decline in June following the implementation of the Prime matchmaking paywall at the start of the month. Players used to be able to achieve Prime status through gameplay, but the recent changes locked it beyond a $15 charge – a move that was meant to combat cheaters and hackers.
"New players can still play every game mode, play on community servers, and play workshop maps," Valve announced. "However, they will no longer receive XP, Ranks, drops, or Skill Groups; those features are now exclusively available to Prime Status players."
According to those same SteamCharts, CS:GO has been hemorrhaging players since the beginning of 2021. There's no doubt a portion of the CS community is glad to see Valve taking an active stance against cheaters – but it looks like 100,000 weren't too happy with how that's being carried out. Valve must be acutely aware of the massive drop-off in players, although it's unclear what its next move will be.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive launched way back in 2012 and has managed to stay popular nearly a decade later thanks to constant updates and massive reworks. The title recently switched to a free-to-play plan, before locking Ranked matches behind a $15 paywall.
Instead of having access to Ranked, Valve introduced a new Unranked playlist that used skill-based matchmaking but would not grant players a Skill Group. It seems that move may not have been enough to keep some players, and it'll be interesting to see how the game fares through the rest of the year.