2025 surge in CS2 players breaks all-time player count record

Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 is one of the most popular games out there, and CS2 has proved that again by posting a new all-time high concurrent player count record on Steam.

There are many things fans want Valve to change and improve in CS2, but that doesn’t stop them from continuing to play the game. CS2 has moved forward relentlessly in becoming more and more popular among fans, reaching a high of 1.74 million players in February. This isn’t a small achievement as few games have ever surpassed 1.5 million players on Steam.

Some of the most popular games on record, such as Black Myth: Wukong, Palworld, and PUBG, are among the only ones that have recorded more than 1.5 million concurrent players on Steam. CS2 has proved it will give tough competition to other games by setting another record.

CS2 beats all-time high CSGO player count on Steam

On March 15, CS2 dethroned CSGO by setting a new all-time concurrent players record on Stream.

Valve’s previous entry in the Counter-Strike franchise, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, managed a record of 1,818,773 concurrent players on Steam in 2023. CS2 hasn’t managed to bring in more players to surpass CS:GO since then. That changed when Counter-Strike recorded a peak number of 1,824,989 concurrent players in March 2025. CS2 remains a massive part of the competitive gaming ecosystem, so it isn’t surprising that the game is so popular.

CS2’s new player count isn’t the only thing showing its popularity. The game consistently tops Steam charts, with new competitors often falling significantly behind. This surge of players, even without any significant update from Valve, shows how much players continue love the venerated game.

Is the CS2 player count real?

Some players claim anecdotally that CS2 has been plagued with bots, and it’s possible that the player count is inflated by these and other, similar accounts.

Bots are a real problem in CS2, and many players have complained about some lobbies being full of them. This is why some claim that a meaningful percentage of the concurrent player count aren’t human players. Some have even gone as far as to allege that as many as 50% of these players are bots, though that seems like a stretch even for those who do believe bots are affecting the game.

The real number of human concurrent players is unclear, and there is a chance of the player count being inflated. But the presence of bots doesn’t change the fact that the game’s popularity is still continuing to soar. The game may be better off without bots, but its fans will continue to play regardless.