Never doubt the power of a gaming community.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive was released in 2012 and on Sunday, Feb. 9 of 2020, CS:GO topped Steam charts with over 900,000 players.

That far outpaced the second-place game, DOTA 2, which came in at 660,000 players.

The source of Counter Strike’s staying power is hotly debated. The growing esports scene is likely a factor, and some members of the Global Offensive Reddit community speculate that rising interest from gamers in China is playing a role as well.

For our part, we are excited to see a game that was born from community passion, starting as a humble Half Life mod way back in 1999, is still going strong. Perhaps the tight gameplay experience combined with a community who has had to self-direct and self-organize from the beginning keeps the player base healthy?

What do you think? Why is Counter Strike still so popular after all these years? Share your thoughts in the comments below.