Counter-Strike Is 25 Years Old. Quarter Century Ago, First Beta of Iconic CS Was Launched
A quarter century with CS has passed like a day. The game celebrated its 25th birthday, and players are reminiscing about its beginnings. Will Valve also prepare something on this occasion?
On June 19, 1999, two then-new game developers, Minch "Gooseman" Le and Jesse "Cliffe" Cliffe, released the first beta version of Counter-Strike. An extensive mod for Half-Life quickly caught the attention of both players and Valve itself.
A year later, the studio decided to buy the rights to the developing shooter game and hire its creators. Back then, no one expected that a quarter of a century later, CS would be one of the most popular video games in the world and one of the leading e-sports titles.
Three months of work and a pickaxe instead of a Glock
However, before the first beta saw the light of day, the two creators had to spend some time properly preparing the Half-Life mod. Work on the game began in March 1999, and one of the fundamental issues turned out to be choosing the right name.
On an archived website dedicated to CS news, we can read Cliffe's post, which mentions the discussion and the proposal for the game's title. Few people know that besides Counter-Strike, such names as Counterterrorism, Strike Force, and even fRAG HEADS were considered.
One Reddit user chose to showcase to the gaming community a chat excerpt between Gooseman and Cliffe, and the moment when the creators decided that the ultimate title would be Counter-Strike, not the proposed Counter Terrorist Forces by Gooseman. And that's how the legend was born.
The name isn't everything, before the game reached the appropriate level, it had to go a long way, and the creators faced many important decisions. Character models in the early stages of development were so similar that it was difficult to differentiate between terrorists and anti-terrorists.
Before perfecting all the details, including character models, and implementing appropriate guns, the initial versions of the game included the iconic crowbar from Half-Life, which is absent in later installments of CS. Maybe this item will return as a legendary knife in the upcoming operation?
25 years of CS
25 years later, the game looks completely different. While CS2 continues to be controversial, it must be acknowledged that the game has made significant progress and has had a substantial influence not only on the gaming industry but also on the esports industry.
Fans of the game have been celebrating since yesterday, and social media is filled with wishes and memories, not so much from the beloved CS:GO, but from the legendary CS 1.6 today.
Those were the days, man. Haven't forgotten those intense matches on de_dust2. In hindsight, it's always the classics that get you hooked
-- bellasmithh6.
However, not everyone looks at old versions of CS with longing and nostalgia. Many players have noticed that a quarter of a century on the market has brought numerous changes, improvements, and evolution, while still preserving what made the game attractive in 1999.
To this day there is little to no games that improved from what it did best and still does.
it has the right amount of skill
the right amount of teamplay tactics
the right amount of resource management
the right amount of stakes (rounds, matches)
the right amount of competitiveness.
This kind of videogames have the potencial to be what chess is to boardgames. You can twist what you want and give as many coats of paint to make it more modern but the base will be the same and will be good.
It's the tetris of the FPS
-- Limpy_lip.
Will Valve join the celebration?
Apart from wishes and memories, players are wondering what the developers have planned for the 25th anniversary of the game. Many people are counting on special events, a new operation, as well as renewed versions of well-known and popular maps, such as fy_pool_day, which at the time of CS 1.6 was extremely popular.
Valve is still not saying anything about it, and although a day has passed since the official birthday, nothing special has happened yet. Well, unless a short birthday post on the game's official Twitter account is enough.
Maybe the devs are preparing a massive update, and the delay is because they want to deliver a flawless and top-quality birthday celebration for the players?
What about you? How do you remember so many years of CS on the market?
