

The original Dota, or Defense of the Ancients, was a custom game mode of Blizzard’s Warcraft III. Unlike Counter-Strike, Dota is not a Valve original. CS:GO has several game modes, but its iconic five-vs-five bomb defusal game mode is the foundation for one of the largest esports scenes in the world. It’s the only game on Steam with a player peak that’s surpassed one million players.

Its latest iteration, CS:GO, has one of the largest player bases of any game and is the most popular game played on Steam. Just a focus on gunplay and teamwork.Ĭounter-Strike as a franchise has been around since 2000 and has consistently increased in popularity every year since. The iconic tactical shooter has been available on Steam since 2012 but moved to a free-to-play model in December 2018 while introducing its own take on the battle royale mode, titled “Danger Zone.” CS:GO is considered one of the purest tactical shooters on the market: no abilities, no killstreaks, no large battlefields littered with vehicles.
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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Image via Valve There is a large amount of games that are free or free-to-play, so we’ve highlighted some of the best and the most popular. There’s something for everyone on the Steam store now, even for those not willing to open their wallets. Recently, the selection of games available increased drastically with EA adding several of their titles to the Steam library. Steam is by far and away the largest collective platform of PC games out there, and it gets bigger and bigger every day.
