Today marks a significant milestone for one of the most iconic and influential first-person shooter franchises of all time—Counter-Strike is celebrating its 25th anniversary. What began as a humble Half-Life mod in 1999 has evolved into a global phenomenon, captivating millions with its intense, team-based tactical gameplay. The original Counter-Strike was instantly hit upon its public beta release on June 19, 1999, quickly building a fervent cult following among PC gamers. Valve soon recognized its potential, acquiring the rights and releasing an official standalone version in November 2000. This launched Counter-Strike into the mainstream, kicking off over two decades of continuous development, innovation, and fierce competitive play. Over the years, the series has seen multiple major releases like Condition Zero, Source, and the juggernaut Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012. Each introduced new maps, weapons, graphics enhancements, and gameplay twists like CS: GO's Danger Zone battle royale mode.

But the core hook remained—tightly coordinated attack/defense scenarios demanding skill, strategy, and pinpoint shooting accuracy. Many of us grew up playing Counter Strike. The latest evolution arrived last September with Counter-Strike 2, ushering in a new engine, revamped graphics, and additional gameplay refinements. While initially met with some skepticism from hardcore fans, CS2 has been widely embraced, smashing records with over 1.5 million peak concurrent players. The key to Counter-Strike's enduring success has been its best-in-class core gameplay loop combined with Valve's commitment to evolve with the times. But just as crucial is the passionate global community that has embraced the series' high-skill cap and opportunities for creative strategies. Many have remained devoted for decades, fueling a robust professional esports scene. As it enters its 26th year, Counter-Strike's tactical multiplayer mayhem shows no signs of slowing down. Its unique blend of shooting fundamentals and cerebral team play has firmly cemented its place as one of the most influential games ever made.

NVIDIA Reflex is a game-changer, reducing system latency on GeForce graphics cards and laptops so your actions occur quicker, giving you a competitive edge in multiplayer matches, and making single-player titles more responsive and enjoyable. Since its debut in September 2020, NVIDIA Reflex is now reducing system latency in over 100 games, over 90% of GeForce gamers enable Reflex. 9 of the top 10 competitive shooters feature Reflex support, including Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Call of Duty: Warzone, Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite and Overwatch 2, along with critically acclaimed smash hit games such as Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Diablo IV, Remnant 2, God of War, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Red Dead Redemption 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered.

In 2023 alone, GeForce gamers played over 10 billion hours of their favorite titles with increased responsiveness thanks to Reflex's innovative system latency reducing technology. Adoption of Reflex continues to accelerate and in 2024 you'll see many more anticipated titles launch with support. Since our last update, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Escape from Tarkov: Arena have added support for Reflex. And the latest seasons of Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Overwatch 2 are all enjoyed at their best with Reflex reducing system latency and further increasing responsiveness.

NVIDIA Reflex is a must-have in games, reducing system latency so your actions occur quicker, giving you a competitive edge in multiplayer matches, and making single-player titles more responsive and enjoyable. NVIDIA Reflex is now used by over 50 million players each month, is available in 9 of the top 10 competitive shooters, including Counter-Strike 2, and is activated by 90% of GeForce gamers in over 80 supported titles. NVIDIA Reflex is synonymous with responsive gaming, and can be found in the latest and greatest games. Counter-Strike 2 and Overwatch 2 Season 7: Rise of Darkness are reducing system latency with Reflex today, and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 adds support in the coming days.

Overwatch 2 Season 7 Available Now
NVIDIA Reflex enables GeForce gamers to play with minimal system latency in Overwatch 2's highly competitive multiplayer matches. Overwatch 2 Season 7: Rise of Darkness is now live. Defeat powerful bosses and level up your hero in the new Trials of Sanctuary game mode. Travel to a tropical paradise with the new Samoa map. Try out Sombra's new ability kit and look out for Roadhog's rework later in the season. Explore seasonal cosmetics in the shop or earn them with the Battle Pass. Using NVIDIA Reflex on a GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU, your actions have improved responsiveness, occurring virtually without delay, and performance is so high that you'll see the action at its best with maximum clarity.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's popularity has continued to increase since its release way back in 2012, and today, it remains the most played game on Steam each week, boasting over one million concurrent players. Now, Valve has launched Counter-Strike 2, a graphical and technological update that upgrades Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the Source 2 engine, leveraging newer graphics APIs for improved fidelity and responsiveness. NVIDIA has worked with Valve to make sure system latency, which is critical to winning, is at an absolute minimum with the addition of NVIDIA Reflex.

In competitive shooters such as Counter-Strike 2, higher FPS and lower system latency allows you to acquire targets faster, react more quickly, and increase aim precision. On a GeForce RTX 40 Series PC or laptop, your skill won't be constrained by system latency, or frame rates. Get the ultimate Counter-Strike 2 competitive experience, powered by GeForce RTX 40 Series for unbeatable performance, and NVIDIA Reflex for the lowest latency. Gamers with a compatible graphics card can enable NVIDIA Reflex in Counter-Strike 2 to reduce system latency by up to 35%.

Valve's Counter-Strike 2 is now officially available, replacing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Describing it as "the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike's history, ensuring new features and updates for years to come." Announced back in March, Counter-Strike 2 brings plenty of new features, updated maps, and more.

In a blog post announcing the availability, Valve says that returning players will find their favorite maps and matchmaking modes, as well as a revamped Premier mode for the new CS Rating. The biggest update is the sub-tick architecture, promising that the server will now know "the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a 'nade is thrown." Valve also released the new patch, launching the game and bringing some fixes and new features and modes that were previously unavailable.