author: Conrad Hazi
Counter Strike: Global Offensive Breaks Yet Another Activity Record
It is not difficult to notice that the complicated situation in the world related to the coronavirus pandemic encourages the use of the Internet. This can be seen very well from titles such as CS: GO, which for the first time since its launch in 2012 exceeded the barrier of a million active players.
- Restrictions related to the coronavirus make people use the Internet more intensively.
- Network traffic generated by multiplayer games and streaming platforms is growing.
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive has recorded more than one million players simultaneously for the first time ever.
It's been known for ages that ordering people to stay in their homes can have various consequences - such as the acceleration of natural growth. In the age of the Internet, we are also observing new phenomena and it seems that during the forced stay at home, people have moved to the virtual world. Network providers in many countries report record transfers, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has recently exceeded the barrier of a million simultaneous players. It's noteworthy that this was the first time in over twenty years the game's Counter-Strike existence.
The trend is still rising and it can be expected that the result of the last days will go even higher.
From the Streets to the Web
Of course, the multiplayer shooter from Valve is not the only beneficiary of the restrictions introduced by many governments in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The whole Internet is experiencing an increase in traffic, both through games such as CS:GO, Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone or streaming platforms such as Twitch and Netflix.
The situation is especially interesting in Italy, where the biggest restrictions have been introduced so far among European countries. Italy's largest Internet provider recently reported a 70% increase in network load, while reassuring that the infrastructure is ready for this and does not anticipate problems at the moment.
The situation is similar in other countries, such as the UK, where Vodafone is already preparing for a sudden increase in traffic. Meanwhile, one of the leading intercontinental fiber-optic operators, Telia Carrier in Sweden, admits that in February the demand for bandwidth grew by about 2.7%, and it will increase even more this month. The restrictions on travel and the resulting demand for teleconferencing services from business customers are undoubtedly adding to this.
Online games and their updates, streaming video material or business in the broadest sense of the word - on each of these fields we generate more and more transfers and further restrictions suggest the situation will not change in the near future. It seems, that global networks are doing well and will enable us to break some more "records". As long as we take special care of our health and hygiene and do not give in to the new virus...
