Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Developers
	Valve Corporation
	Hidden Path Entertainment
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	August 21, 2012
macOS (OS X)	August 21, 2012
Linux	September 22, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	83
OpenCritic	82
IGDB	81
Taxonomy
Monetization	Free-to-play, Subscription
Microtransactions	Boost, Cosmetic, Loot box, Player trading
Modes	Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Tactical shooter, Battle royale
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike	2000
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero	2004
Counter-Strike: Source	2004
Counter-Strike NEO -White Memories-	2005
Counter-Strike Online (series)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive	2012
Counter-Strike 2	2023

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was a multiplayer first-person action, FPS, tactical shooter and battle royale game by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve, and the fourth entry in the mainline Counter-Strike series and successor to Counter-Strike: Source.

The game was released on OS X and Windows on August 21, 2012 with a release on Linux two years later on September 22, 2014.

The game went free-to-play on December 6, 2018 alongside the introduction of a new 18 players battle royale game mode called Danger Zone.

On September 27, 2023 the game was replaced by the free-to-play sequel Counter-Strike 2 and can no longer be installed separately. The game was retained as a "beta" build of Counter-Strike 2 on Steam labeled csgo_legacy which when opted into will install the last version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive alongside Counter-Strike 2. However as the official servers and as such competitive matchmaking were also shut down on September 27, 2023, the only methods available to play is community servers, LAN, and offline mode.

General information

Official blog

Steam Community discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Distributed only in Russia, Ukraine, and CIS countries by Buka Entertainment.
Steam (unavailable)		Global version. Replaced by Counter-Strike 2 on September 27, 2023. Can still be downloaded and played via the csgo_legacy beta.
Publisher website (unavailable)		China version. Replaced by Counter-Strike 2 on September 27, 2023.

A conversion of this game to a Counter-Strike: Source mod is available here.

Monetization

Type	Notes
DLC	Users with Prime Status are matchmade only with and against other Prime Status users in all game modes. Prime users also earn XP, Competitive Skill Groups, and are eligible for weekly item drops. These benefits apply exclusively to Prime users.
Free-to-play	The base game is free-to-play as of December 6, 2018, but paid Prime status is needed for some features.
Subscription	CS:GO 360 Stats is an optional monthly subscription that includes access to Competitive match stats from official Competitive, Premier, and Wingman game modes and the Round Win Chance report introduced in Operation Broken Fang.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Operation Riptide	September 21, 2021 - February 21, 2022
Operation Broken Fang	December 3, 2020 - May 3, 2021
Operation Shattered Web	November 18, 2019 - March 31, 2020
Operation Hydra	May 23, 2017 - November 13, 2017
Operation Wildfire	February 17, 2016 - July 15, 2016
Operation Bloodhound	May 26, 2015 - October 1, 2015
Operation Vanguard	November 11, 2014 - March 31, 2015
Operation Breakout	July 1, 2014 - October 2, 2014
Operation Phoenix	February 20, 2014 - June 11, 2014
Operation Bravo	September 18, 2013 - February 5, 2014
Operation Payback	April 25, 2013 - August 31, 2013

Microtransactions

Type	Notes
Boost	Operations are occasionally released. These add new contents that are playable by all, but an Operation Pass must be bought to unlock cosmetics and special loot boxes.
Cosmetic	Gun skins, player models can be obtained in-game, purchased or traded from other players, or by opening loot boxes.
Loot box	Loot boxes are earned during game play, but keys must be bought with real money in order to open them. All rewards are cosmetic.
Player trading	Trading can be done via Steam.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -novid command line argument

The console command cl_disablehtmlmotd 1 disables servers' Message Of The Day (MOTD) advertisements.

Configure memory usage on 32-bit versions of Windows

The game can crash when loading the next map if on a 32-bit operating system.

This is caused by going over 4 GB of total memory usage, which is impossible for a 32-bit OS.

setting.mem_level[citation needed]
Go to <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\730\local\cfg Open video.txt. Find setting.mem_level and replace "1" with "0" Launch the game, and load several maps in a row to make sure it worked. Notes Turning down settings such as shadow or model resolution can also help to prevent crashes.

Config Generator

Special singleplayer map that allows players to configure settings that are not normally accessible via in-game UI.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\730\local\cfg

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		1.5 GB available

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Use Widescreen Fixer to scale HUD. Hit indicators are not properly visible. A triple-monitor UI mode have been added.
Ultra-widescreen			Hor+. HUD scales correctly after the Panorama UI update.
4K Ultra HD			Interface scales poorly.
Field of view (FOV)		Default 90°. Hor+. Can be set with the command fov_cs_debug if the server allows cheats.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		No resolution scaling support (must use native monitor resolution).
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA and up to 8x MSAA OGSSAA and SGSSAA can be utilized through anti-aliasing compatibility bits 0x000000C1 under Nvidia Profile Inspector.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Double Buffering, Triple Buffering, Off.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		By default, menus are locked to 120 FPS and the gameplay to 400 FPS. With the developer console, it's possible to change the fps_max ConVar up to 1000; use 0 for uncapped framerate. "Laptop Power Setting" enables a 30fps limit
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

In-game keyboard/mouse settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Can be enabled/disabled and customized.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Doesn't load controller configurations by default. Every time the game is booted, lines exec controller.cfg and exec controller.360.cfg has to be written on console. This can be automated by creating autoexec.cfg file in <path-to-game>/csgo/cfg and writing those two exec statements, each on their own lines, in that file.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Official controller preset(s)
Steam Controller button prompts

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Overall game volume and separate music slider.
Surround sound		5.1 surround sound, 4 speaker surround.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		"Silence the audio while the game window is in the background" check box. Also includes option to only play received mic chat on focus loss.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Bulgarian
Simplified Chinese				Fully localized audio was added to Perfect World edition on August 2, 2018.
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese

Network

For more information, see the "Source Dedicated Server" section of the Source engine article.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		Versus Use Universal Split Screen.
LAN play		10	Use Offline with bots mode and set sv_lan 1 in the console.
Online play		32	10 players in competitive mode 18 players in Danger Zone mode Official servers were shut down in 27 September 2023. However Community Servers still playable.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking		Official servers shut down in favor of Counter-Strike 2.
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated		Developer-hosted until official shutdown CS:GO servers. However Community servers hosted.
Self-hosting
Direct IP		Open the console (~) and use connect followed by the IP and port.

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27014-27050
UDP	3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27030

This game does not support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

Custom community server joining

The game will not publicly broadcast the server a player is connected to if playing on a community server.

Use the cl_join_advertise 2 command

Host 128 tickrate servers

By default, hosting a custom server will always launch in 64 tickrate.

Use the -tickrate 128 command line argument

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Devices
Novint Falcon

Issues unresolved

Surround sound

Reportedly other issues with surround sound with the Logitech G35.

Issues fixed

"An issue with your computer is blocking the VAC system. You cannot play on secure servers."

See the official Steam support page here

FPS drops and/or stuttering

Update Realtek audio drivers

Disable Advanced 3D audio processing in the audio menu

Disable fullscreen optimizations in the executable's compatibility settings

(AMD) Turn on Radeon Anti-Lag in Radeon Settings (generally not recommended on 97% of GPU usage and lower).

(AMD) Turn on Enhanced Sync in Radeon Overlay (Alt+R) or Radeon Settings (especially if you suffer FPS drops below 60, but technically it prevents tearing).

Disable Profanity filter in Settings>Social

Disable Boost Player Contrast in Settings>Video

Enable OpenGL Multithreading (Linux)
In Steam's Launch Options... add the following environment variable depending on the GPU you are using: __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1 if using NVIDIA mesa_glthread=true if using AMD/Intel GPU with Mesa driver library (Not needed if on Mesa 20.2 or higher)

Enable Vulkan (Linux)
Use -vulkan launch option

Disable HPET

Method 1: Open the Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator. To enable HPET as the only timer, run the command bcdedit /set useplatformclock true To disable HPET in Windows, run the command bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformclock Restart the computer. Method 2: Open the Windows Device Manager. Scroll down to "System Devices" and open the sub-menu. Scroll to "High Precision Event Timer" and click it. Click "Actions" at the top of the window, and from that pop-up menu, click "Disable". Restart the computer. May cause performance issues on some systems. The timer resolution can be changed manually.

Use launch parameters: -d3d9ex -novid -no-browser -nojoy -high +r_dynamic 0 +cl_freezecameffects_showholiday 0 +r_drawtracers_firstperson 0 +fps_max 0 You can also use +cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1 to disable HUD which slightly increases FPS Popular net_graph 1 / net_graph_text 1 causes slight FPS drop +r_drawtracers_firstperson 0 disables visibility of fired bullets. Enabling it may be useful with e.g. M249 to correct recoil while shooting full auto. It needs to be entered manually in the console. Some commands which increase FPS in e.g. Dust 2, can decrease FPS in newer maps like Lunacy. These presented on the top were tested thoroughly on both. Alternatively, test +mat_queue_mode 2 for 4+ core CPUs and -noubershader, at least for old Intel integrated GPUs Disabling the default FPS limit is beneficial mainly in scenarios of fluctuating FPS between 60 and 120. +cl_forcepreload has been removed with the patch on 24.09.21.

Game crashes with window "Wait for the program to respond"

Need use 4GB patch
Download the NTCore 4GB Patch. Apply the patch to csgo.exe This does not lead to a VAC ban account.[citation needed]

Delete appcache
If you get this error message without have used any 3rd party applications, this quick fix should solve your issue. Shut down Steam. Go to <Steam-folder>. Delete the folder appcache.

Game crashes without an error message when loading into a server

Reduce in-game resolution[citation needed]
Before joining a server, set the resolution in-game down to the first lower setting. Once connected, set the game resolution back to the previous one. This does not need to be redone until the game is closed.

Error 55

Opt out of the Steam beta client
Open the Steam menu at the top left in the Steam Client and click on Settings. Click Account at the left hand of the window. Go to the 'Beta participation' (it will say 'Steam Beta Update' if you opted in) and click Change.... Open the drop-down menu and change it to None - Opt out of all beta programs. Click OK.

Re-enable the Steam service
Exit Steam. Type C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\Steamservice.exe /Install at the Run prompt. Restart Steam.

Delete ClientRegistry.blob and AppUpdateStats.blob
Go to <Steam-folder>. Delete ClientRegistry.blob and AppUpdateStats.blob.

Failed to find and connect to an acceptable dedicated server

Add the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Steam executables to firewall exception lists[citation needed]

Adjust your maximum acceptable ping to official servers[citation needed]
Type mm_dedicated_search_maxping "150" in your game console. Notes You might want to add the above command to your autoexec.

Game crashes on start

Delete <path-to-game>\csgo.exe and "verify integrity of game files" in properties of the game on Steam

Make sure <path-to-game>\csgo.exe has no compatibility modes applied

Steam constantly asks for admin permissions on start

Using the Command Prompt or PowerShell, execute the reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Valve\Steam\Apps\730 /v directx /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f /reg:32 command

"No user logon"

When playing in offline mode, make sure Internet access is disabled in the operating systems.

Black screen on launch, but audio can still be heard

Launch the game with the -disable_d3d9ex parameter

Launch the game with the -fullscreen parameter

30 FPS cap after Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Some people report that games run worse (not only CS:GO). It is also known that the AU update broke graphics card drivers.

An update for the game was released which added a warning for users who have XboxDVR enabled.

Disable Game Bar[citation needed]
Open the Settings App Select the "Gaming" section Set "Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game Bar" to off

Purple and black broken textures

A generic fix for this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Some maps are way too dark on Intel HD GPUs

Maps using ambient occlusion (e.g. de_lake, de_canals, ar_baggage) can be very dark on Intel HD Graphics.

A generic fix for this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Game changes microphone gain at launch

Modify configuration file
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open config.cfg. Find the line voice_mixer_volume, it should be near the bottom of the file. If the line doesn't exist you may create it. Set the value to -1. Notes Removing the line does not work.

Disable exclusive control of microphone (Windows)
Right click on the speaker icon located at the tray bar. Select Recording devices. Double click on your microphone in the newly opened window. Go to Advanced and untick Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device. Notes Most applications ignore this, and many users are reporting that it does not work.

FPS drops and/or stuttering of sound / var value jumps

Add launch parameter in Steam +cl_disablehtmlmotd 1 and/or alternatively -no-browser

Screen not stretching on AMD graphics card

Disable Integer Scaling in the AMD control panel

"Your graphics hardware does not support all features (CSM) needed"

The game will fail without Cascaded Shadow Mapping support. Unfortunately the feature is hardcoded to be available only on the three common GPU vendors.

Launch the game with the -force_device_id 0xffff -force_vendor_id 0x8086 command line arguments

Try the other fixes in "High" shadow detail option is missing

Microphone not working on Arch Linux

Visit the archlinux Wiki[citation needed]

Rendering issues on AMD/Intel under Linux

Will be fixed in the upcoming Mesa 21.1

Currently it causes a breakage in a trust factor when using it, and players may be thrown into a match with cheaters.

Run the game with radeonsi_clamp_div_by_zero=true environment variable

Crashing on launch on Linux

Run sudo dmesg | grep malloc in the terminal. If you see any issues with CSGO and malloc, apply the following fix:

libtcmalloc Segmentation Fault Fix Delete the contents of this directory: <path-to-game>\csgo/panorama/videos/ Add -novid to the end of your launch options.

"Failed to verify signed files" error when trying the old demo viewer

This happens since Valve added game executable signature validation into the Steam client itself

Disable Steam signature verification
Open the Steam console (steam://open/console). Run the command verifySignaturesBeforeLaunch 0.

Run <path-to-game>\csgo.exe directly
If the game just closes after launch, try to validate the game files at least once.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 9Ex	D3D9Ex by default since 4/22/2019 update.
OpenGL	2.1	OS X and Linux only.
Vulkan		Linux only.
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System, Steam Audio	Version 9.3k. Uses Steam Audio for HRTF. Alternatively snd_legacy_surround="1" (no longer available since 2018 Panorama update) forces use of DirectSound (which makes posibility of injecting custom dsound.dll of e.g. DSOAL (with its own HRTF or w/o if alsoft.ini unpresent), IndirectSound, Creative Alchemy.
Interface	Panorama	Panorama 4.2.23 Scaleform is no longer used in latest updates
Multiplayer	Steamworks
Anti-cheat	Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC)

Console commands

Games running on the Source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.

Enabling the console in Source games[citation needed]

Launch the game. From the main menu select Help & Options. Select the Game Settings menu item. Click the arrow next to Enable Developer Console (~) so that it says Yes. Click Back. Notes Press ~ to open the console. It might be necessary to rebind the console key if not using a US keyboard. Some commands may first require enabling sv_cheats 1 in the console. Many servers disallow the usage of cheats, or disable them upon entering the server.

Command line arguments

View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.

Example of an advanced autoexec.

Command	Output
-novid	Skip intro videos.
-no-browser	Disables video ads.
-console	Opens the console at startup.
-fullscreen	Forces the game to run in fullscreen mode.
-d3d9ex	Forces D3D9Ex renderer (default since 2019).
-nod3d9ex or -disable_d3d9ex	Forces the use of D3D9 renderer for troubleshooting or performance boost on weaker systems.
-vulkan	Forces Vulkan renderer.
-freq x OR -refresh x	Sets refresh rate / frequency.
-nojoy	Disables joystick support.
-tickrate [number]	Sets tickrate of custom server to a given value.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	7, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 AMD Phenom X3 8750
System memory (RAM)	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35GB
Video card (GPU)	256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support

Windows XP and Vista were previously supported, but as future updates for this game and Steam occurred, the support was dropped.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.7 (Lion)
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 2400 Nvidia GeForce 8600M

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 12.04
Processor (CPU)	Intel Dual Core 2.8 GHz AMD Dual Core 2.8 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 2600/3600 Nvidia GeForce 8600M/9600GT OpenGL 2.1 compatible
Sound (audio device)	OpenAL compatible
Other	Graphic Drivers: Nvidia 310, AMD 12.11

A 64-bit operating system is required.