Counter-Strike

This article is about the video game series. For the 2000 game, see Counter-Strike (video game). For other uses, see Counterstrike.
Counter-Strike

The current Counter-Strike series logo.
Genres First-person shooter
Developers
Publishers
Platforms
Platform of origin Windows
Year of inception 1999
First release Counter-Strike
June 19, 1999
Latest release Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
August 21, 2012

Counter-Strike (officially abbreviated as CS) is a series of multiplayer first-person shooter video games, in which teams of terrorists and counter-terrorists battle to, respectively, perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking) and prevent it (bomb defusal, hostage rescue). The series began on Windows in 1999 with the first version of Counter-Strike. It was initially released as a modification for Half-Life and designed by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe, before the rights to the game's intellectual property were acquired by Valve Corporation, the developers of Half-Life.

The game was followed-up with Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, developed by Turtle Rock Studios and released in 2004. Later that same year, Counter-Strike: Source was released by Valve. Released only eight months after Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, in November 2004, the game was a remake of the original Counter-Strike and the first in the series to run on Valve's newly created Source engine.[1] The fourth game in the main series to have been developed by Valve, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, was released in 2012 for Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Hidden Path Entertainment, who also worked on Counter-Strike: Source post-release, helped to develop the game alongside Valve.[2] Several spin-off titles have been released for Asian territories.

Main series

Timeline of release years
1999Counter-Strike
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike Neo
2005
2006
2007Counter-Strike Online
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
2013Counter-Strike Online 2
2014Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies

Counter-Strike

Originally a modification for Half-Life, the rights to Counter-Strike, as well as the developers working on it, were acquired by Valve Corporation in 2000.

The game received a port to Xbox in 2003.[3] It was also ported to OS X and Linux in the form of a beta in January 2013. A full release was published in April 2013.[4][5]

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

Counter-Strike was followed-up with Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, developed by Turtle Rock Studios and released in 2004. It used the Half-Life GoldSrc engine, similar to its predecessor. It was a single-player game instead of a multiplayer one, with a "full" campaign and bonus levels. The game was poorly received in contrast to its predecessor and was quickly followed with a further entry to the series titled Counter-Strike: Source.[6]

Counter-Strike: Source

Counter-Strike: Source was the first publicly released game by Valve Corporation to run on the Source engine. Counter-Strike: Source was initially released as a beta to members of the Valve Cyber Café Program on August 11, 2004.[1][7] On August 18, 2004, the beta was released to owners of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and those who had received a Half-Life 2 voucher bundled with some ATI Radeon video cards.[8] While the original release only included a version for Microsoft Windows, the game eventually received a port to OS X on June 23, 2010 with a Linux port afterwards in 2013.[9][10]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (abbreviated as CS:GO) was the fourth release in the main, Valve-developed Counter-Strike series in 2012. Much like Counter-Strike: Source the game runs on the Source engine. It is available on Microsoft Windows, OSX, and Linux, as well as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and is backwards compatible on the Xbox One console.

Spin-off titles

Counter-Strike Neo

A Japanese arcade adaptation of Counter-Strike, the original Half-Life multiplayer modification. It is published by Namco, and runs on a Linux system.[11] The game involves anime-designed characters in a futuristic designed version of Counter-Strike. A selection of single-player missions, mini-games, and seasonal events were added to prolong the game's interest with players.[12]

Counter-Strike Online series

Counter-Strike Online is a free-to-play spin-off available in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, and discontinued in Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand and Vietnam. It was developed by Nexon, with oversight from Valve Corporation. It uses a micropayment model that is managed by a custom version of the Steam back-end.[13] Announced in 2012 and aimed at the Asian gaming market, a sequel titled Counter-Strike Online 2 was developed by Nexon on the Source game engine, and released in 2013.[14]

Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies

In August 2014, Nexon announced Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies, a free-to-play, zombie-themed spin-off,[15] developed on the GoldSrc game engine.[16] On September 23, 2014, an open beta was released on Steam.[17] The game launched on October 7, 2014, featuring 50 maps and 20 game modes.[18] The game features both player versus player modes such as team deathmatch, hostage rescue, bomb defusal, and player versus environment modes such as cooperative campaign missions and base defending.[19] Reception from critics was generally negative with criticism aimed at the game's poor user interface, microtransactions,[19] and dated graphics.[16]

Reception

As of August 2011, the Counter-Strike franchise has sold over 25 million units.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Counter-Strike: Source beta begins". GameSpot. CNET Networks. August 11, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
  2. "VALVE ANNOUNCES COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE (CS: GO)". Steam. Valve Corporation. August 12, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  3. Fahey, Rob (June 6, 2003). "E3 2003: Counter-Strike". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  4. "Counter-Strike 1.6 Beta released". Steam. Valve Corporation. January 28, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  5. "Counter-Strike 1.6 update released". Steam. Valve Corporation. April 1, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  6. "Counter-Strike: Condition Zero for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  7. "Counter-Strike: Source update history". Valve Corporation. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
  8. "Counter-Strike: Source Strike ATI Customer". Advanced Micro Devices. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2008."Counter Strike: Source ATI customer". December 2014.
  9. "Counter-Strike: Source Update Released". Steam. Valve Corporation. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  10. Dawe, Liam (February 5, 2013). "Counter Strike Source Has Been Added To The CDR And Apparently Installable Too". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  11. Niizumi, Hirohiko (September 27, 2004). "Nvidia partners with Namco". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  12. Waugh, Eric-Jon (March 27, 2006). "GDC: The Localization of Counter-Strike in Japan". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  13. "Q&A: Valve Explains Why PC Gaming's Gaining Steam". Gamasutra. March 6, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  14. Mallory, Jordan (April 6, 2012). "Nexon, Valve announce Counter-Strike Online 2 for Asian territories". Joystiq. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  15. Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 7, 2014). "Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies heads to Steam". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  16. 1 2 Köhler, Stefan (October 26, 2014). "Tod durch Untote" [Death by Undead]. GameStar (in German). p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  17. Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 23, 2014). "Here's a (very) quick look at Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  18. Prescott, Shaun (October 7, 2014). "Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies ambles onto Steam today". PC Gamer. Future Publishing. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  19. 1 2 O'Connor, Alice (September 25, 2014). "Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies Shambles Into Open Beta". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  20. Makuch, Eddie (August 12, 2011). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive firing up early 2012". GameSpot. CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
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