Valve has allowed CSGO to be downloaded for free on Steam

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is officially free to download on the Steam Store. Free CSGO of course has its price.

Valve just announced a small game update days ago that CS:GO will be free to download, ahead of the 13th Major event, FACEIT London. Now, the game is ready for you to download on Steam.

To download the game, go to CS:GO on the Steam Store, and scroll down to “Play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Free Edition.” From there, a large download will appear in the Steam Library.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haoRVbE-ko

The downside of this free version is that it does not allow players to participate in casual, competitive or online community games – the main features in CS: GO.

The game’s Free Edition will let you play offline with bots and access hot matches on GOTV, the in-game tracking app. This means new players can test their skills in popular workshop maps like aim_botz and take part in the ‘pick-em challenge’ for the London Major without having to purchase the game.

Valve’s goal in creating this free CS:GO is to increase player numbers while their $1 million tournament is happening. The last major was in January, ELEAGUE Boston, which broke the Twitch viewership record in a single channel, reaching 1.13 million consecutive viewers in the finals. According to Steamchart, player count grew 12% in the same month.

So if you want to experience one of the professional esports shooter titles, this is an opportunity not to be missed.