Valve Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Counter-Strike

Valve has marked the 25th anniversary of Counter-Strike with a message on the official franchise page on social network X. The developers hailed the shooter as the greatest game and esports discipline in history and expressed their gratitude to the fans.

"Happy 25th anniversary to the greatest video game in history — Counter-Strike.

A mod for Half-Life that spawned entire communities, created memories and became the foundation for the world's greatest esports discipline. We are grateful that our players are the most passionate in all of gaming.

Here’s to the next 25 years!"

The first beta version of the original Counter-Strike was released on June 19, 1999. Initially created as a mod for Half-Life, it eventually evolved into a full-fledged franchise. Throughout its history, seven online versions have been released, along with one arcade version (Counter-Strike Neo) and one single-player version (Counter-Strike: Condition Zero). The latest release in the series, as of the time of writing, is Counter-Strike 2, which replaced CS:GO on September 27, 2023.