Essays 24 November 2021, 17:43

15 Best Free Online Shooters to Play in 2023

There are plenty of free-to-play shooters out there, but there's also plenty of garbage. We come to the rescue and give you 15 best free online shooters that are honest, fun, and – most importantly – constantly updated.

CS GO

COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE IN A NUTSHELL

Developer: Valve Software
Publisher: Valve Corporation
Platform: PC
PC release date: August 21, 2012

Everyone knows Counter-Strike – this game started out as a fan mod for the first Half-Life and remains wildly popular, still being one of the most important disciplines in esports, and it's also been totally free for a few years.

The gameplay has not changed much in over two decades since the original release. Terrorists and anti-terrorists fight each other in several different modes – mostly bomb diffusion/arming, while still using the same iconic guns. Even the same maps that were crowded at the turn of the millennium are still popular on servers – if you fought endless battles on de_dust2 and de_aztec in middle school, you will instantly feel at home.

In December 2018, Valve added the battle royale mode, known as Danger Zone, and at the same time announced that the game is officially free-to-play, which opened the way for CS to our list. How are they making money, then? Skins, as usual, as well as on a paid premium upgrades and access to operations, providing a lot of useful attractions.

Currently, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is doing great. The game practically doesn't fall from Steam's number one in the most popular games. Operation Riptide, released in September 2021, was also a success, offering new maps and missions, as well as changes to the existing game modes, including private queues to make it easier to play with friends. A year ago, the production celebrated its 10th anniversary. On this occasion, the developers have made available to the players another 3 refreshed maps and 2 completely new ones. In addition, the title received several dozen new stickers and a special birthday token.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in our encyclopedia

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the game for you if:

you like simple gameplay, but not necessarily easy;
you've played CS for the past 20 years and you still love it;
you have ambitions to become a professional player, compete against others in tournaments and win millions of dollars.

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CS GO