Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
2012 video game
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| January 2024 | Arms Race game mode, previously removed in the initial Counter-Strike 2 release, was reintroduced to the game. |
| September 27 2023 | Counter-Strike 2 was officially released, replacing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam and introducing major technical improvements including the Source 2 game engine. |
| March 2023 | Set a new concurrent player record of 1.4 million players, surpassing the previous record from 2020. |
| March 22 2023 | Valve launched a closed beta for Counter-Strike 2, marking the first public testing phase of the game that would replace Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. |
| 2022 | Nominated for 'Best Esports Game' at The Game Awards. |
| January 2022 | An update added Flick Stick support for gyroscopic game controllers, introducing a new control scheme for players. |
| 2021 | Nominated for 'Best Esports Game' at The Game Awards. |
| September 2021 | Operation Riptide was released, adding new gameplay features, matchmaking changes, maps, and cosmetic items. |
| May 2021 | Valve launched 'CS:GO 360 Stats', a subscription service providing detailed match statistics and reports. |
| 2020 | Nominated for 'Best Esports Game' at The Game Awards. |
| 2020 | The Counter-Strike coaching bug scandal erupted, where team coaches were found using a bug to gain unauthorized information about enemy teams. The Esports Integrity Commission announced plans to sanction nearly 100 coaches. |
| December 2020 | Operation Broken Fang was released, accompanied by the first official CS:GO cinematic trailer in eight years. |
| April 2020 | Reached a concurrent player record of 1.3 million players during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| April 2020 | Source code for CS:GO was leaked online, causing concerns about potential security risks, though Valve stated it did not impact current game servers. |
| February 2020 | Esports organizations Cloud9 and Dignitas announced plans to launch Flashpoint, a franchise-based league for Counter-Strike, aimed at addressing concerns with existing promotion/relegation leagues. |
| 2019 | Nominated for 'eSports Game of the Year' at the Golden Joystick Awards and 'Best Esports Game' at The Game Awards. |
| 2019 | Valve implemented changes to Global Offensive's loot box mechanics after discovering that criminal organizations were using CS:GO keys for money laundering, making newly purchased keys non-tradeable and non-marketable. |
| November 2019 | Operation Shattered Web was released, introducing new character models and a battle pass system. |
| 2018 | Nominated for 'eSports Game of the Year' at the Golden Joystick Awards. Also nominated for 'Fan Favorite eSports Game' and 'Fan Favorite eSports League Format' at the Gamers' Choice Awards. |
| December 2018 | Valve transitioned CS:GO to a free-to-play model, shifting revenue focus to cosmetic items. |
| December 6 2018 | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive became free to play, with previous purchasers automatically upgraded to 'Prime' status. A new battle royale mode 'Danger Zone' was introduced, along with the Panorama interface. |
| August 2018 | An offline version of the game was released, allowing players to play with bots without an internet connection. |
| August 22 2018 | Turner Broadcasting announced additional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive programming, including ELEAGUE's Esports 101: CSGO and a docu-series on TBS network. |
| July 2018 | Valve disabled loot box container opening in Belgium and the Netherlands after determining the loot boxes potentially violated local gambling laws. |
| 2017 | Nominated for 'Best Spectator Game' in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards and 'eSports Game of the Year' at the Golden Joystick Awards. |
| November 2017 | Valve introduced the 'Trust Factor' matchmaking system, calculating player matching based on various in-game and Steam-wide behaviors. |
| September 2017 | Valve collaborated with Perfect World to release Global Offensive in mainland China, with free access for verified Chinese citizens and localized game modifications. |
| May 2017 | Operation Hydra was released, introducing new operation-specific game modes. |
| 2016 | ELEAGUE Major was first televised on US cable television network TBS, marking a significant moment in esports broadcasting. |
| 2016 | MLG Columbus Major Championship saw an increase in prize pools for Major tournaments. |
| October 2016 | The original map Inferno was re-released with improvements to visibility, group movement, and incorporating player feedback. |
| July 2016 | Second formal lawsuit filed against gambling sites and Valve regarding underage gambling concerns. |
| June 2016 | First formal lawsuit filed against gambling sites and Valve, alleging encouragement of underage gambling and undisclosed promotional practices by streamers. |
| April 2016 | Prime matchmaking was introduced, requiring players to verify their phone number to participate, aimed at reducing cheating and 'smurfing'. |
| February 2016 | As part of Operation Wildfire, the original map Nuke was remade and re-released with goals of improving map balance and aesthetics. |
| 2015 | Won the fan-voted 'eSports Game of the Year' award at The Game Awards. |
| 2014 | The first large match fixing scandal in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive occurred, involving team iBuyPower deliberately losing a match against NetCodeGuides.com. Seven professional players were permanently banned from all Majors by Valve, though some other tournament organizers later allowed them to compete. |
| 2014 | The game was released for Linux, expanding its platform availability. |
| September 23 2014 | The Linux version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released, completing the platform availability. |
| August 13 2013 | Valve released the 'Arms Deal' update, introducing cosmetic weapon skins through a loot box mechanism, which significantly impacted the game's virtual economy and player engagement. |
| August 21 2012 | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was publicly released on Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms. |
| November 30 2011 | The closed beta of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive commenced, initially limited to around ten thousand players who received keys at promotional events. |
| August 12 2011 | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was first publicly revealed to the gaming community. |
| March 2010 | Development of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive began when Hidden Path Entertainment started porting Counter-Strike: Source to video game consoles, with Valve later expanding the project into a full game. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.