The Unstoppable Rise of Counter-Strike 

Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring today's video. Go to strms.net/TheActManHelloFreshAprilYT and use code POGACTMANAPR50 for 50% off plus first box ships free!” Counter-Strike is one of the most influential First-Person Shooters ever made. But why? What are the secrets to it's success?? From Half-Life mod to 1.6, Condition: Zero, Source and finally CS:GO. Counter-Strike has a long and storied history. This is the Unstoppable Rise of Counter-Strike...

Terrorists win is one of the most iconic lines in gaming history Glad they made another cs

It’s funny to me that Valve seems to be the only company that’s learned in the last 20 years that hiring modders and buying their work can be a huge benefit to your company.

20:42 "Imagine if CS2 came out and it didn't have dust" Oh boy

Everytime you emphasized them not having to change much, and the fact that it kept its identity made it so successful; I couldn't stop be reminded of the fall of the Halo franchise.

You know that when Valve announces a game with 2 in the title, it's gonna be the last game of that franchise. Only when Gaben becomes world leader we'll know for sure that there won't be a WW3.

When our boy Gaben says he can't say anything when asked whether a game will come out, it's not because he isn't sure. It's because he isn't sure whether anyone there will still be alive when it does.

Even though I haven't played CS since the old 1.0 days, it warms my heart knowing the franchise is still alive and well.

Counter strike is like chess. It’s popular and appealing in the modern day because it never changes much and there’s unlimited depth. You aren’t banking on later changes what you see is what you get and what you get has a virtually limitless skill ceiling while still being fairly accessible

Russians love counter-strike so much that when Putin announced the Draft, literally half of the CSGO player base left for a day

Playing the Counterstrike beta at a LAN party in Michigan in 1999 and then immediately driving to a field with my friends to play paintball is a fond memory of mine

That IEM Boston win back in 2018 was one of the most hype moments of CSGO I remember how CS fandom popped off at such a crazy C9 victory.

As a computer science student, counter-strike is a true testament to software development in both its design engine and gameplay. The people behind it definitely deserve all the support they can get because what they are doing is NOT easy

I’ll never forget when I got “Counter Strike” on the Original Xbox back in the day. I didn’t have Xbox Live so I just played against the bots but man was it still so much fun. Looking back it’s very nostalgic.

I was a professional CS player back in early to mid 2000s for 1.5 and 1.6.Used to play with Summit1G etc. Started in Beta 5 in 1999. CS was so awesome because before that it was really arena shooters that were popular, like you discussed. Started when I was 17 and I'm 40 now lol.

I'm a new player to CSGO (literally less than 10 hours lol) but I'm really enjoying it so far. Yeah it takes quite a while to get really good at and it's not uncommon to just get dunked on by absolute units with thousands of hours, but those matches every now and then where I somehow do really well out of nowhere definitely make it worth it. The lobbies of people talking trash and displaying absolute debauchery take me back to the classic Xbox Live days.

With how big CS has become, being a part of the game since the early years of 1.5 make me feel good. It's like watching a child grow.

counter strikes longevity is insanely impressive. hopefully cs2 has even more success.

CS:GO has actually had mini campaign missions released over the years. The Operation updates that it had usually shipped with actual objective based missions with voice acting, and a vague story. They were pretty cool. Danger Zone actually has lore which these campaign missions expanded on.

CSS was my first online game. I joined an awesome clan and spent hundreds of hours playing Gungame and the constantly packed 2 main servers of theirs. First time I ever found a large group of people interested in the same stuff I was into. Pretty sure I'm still on the community and now I got to go see if anyone still checks in on it.

CS is my rock. No matter what game comes out I always find myself delving back into cs years later and loving it just the same.

Simplicity and the community .... 2 most important things in video gaming world and they are 100% delivered in CS since 1.6

I love how the sponsorship has the BF1 theme in the background. As do most of your videos. Never gets old. Love it.

i started playing this just a few months ago and the thing i love about it the most is that i can just jump in whenever, find a match quickly, don't have to worry about new updates, techniques or shits, it's the same game i played last time, pick a gun and just play. the rounds are quick, usually not that many hackers like BF games, and i learned it pretty quickly as well. the simplicity makes it easier for me jump in the game every time but it's still challenging enough to keep me on my toes without making me rage quit coz some dude camping on the corner of the map and killing me the moment i spawn in. basically, it takes 2 minutes for me to start having fun and it took very little time for me to learn the maps and weapons as well since they are so simple and well designed.

It's even more impressive if you realize that Valve is a relatively small private company. They don't trade stock. They are entirely their own enclosed privately owned entity. Making it one of the most profitable enterprises per employee in the entire world, of any kind. It's kind of insane.

A thing with skins: I saw that the cases had gone up in price, so I sold some of my old cases. But doing so I also decided to open a few from the money I had made from selling them. I unboxed a Bowie marble fade 0.0106 (FN) worth about 700$ cad at the time (last week). In just one week it's already up another 100$.. I'm going to keep it for a while and sell it later to help buy my house.

There's just something about valve games, they hold up very well and retain player bases better than they have any right to. Team fortress 2 has seemingly been neglected for years and it's still popular!

act man quantum tv just got arrested

I've played CS since 1.4 over 20 years ago. I just recently got back into it and am still having the same fun I remember from back when I was a teenager playing in CAL leagues. Can't wait for CS2. Cool to see you cover this dude.

CS Player since 1.3 here: You did a good job on this video Act, the choice of 1.6 pro clips is good, I loved seeing SpawN and 4Kings, lots of memories. It was such an honor to be apart of this huge community from its early days.

Valve when a mod developer makes a successful gamemode for Half-Life: "You're hired!" Nintendo when an 8 year old makes a crayon drawing of Mario: *(loads shotgun menacingly)*

Perfect timing for this video man. I've become disillusioned with modern online shooters like Halo and CoD so been thinking of trying this out again for the first time in 15 years. DL it now so hope it gives me the shooty bang fun I've been missing for the last 3-4 years.

I just love the personality in every Act Man video. So funny, so straight forward, so engaging. You’re a master of your craft dude. Respect.

"Counter-Strike in space does sound kinda cool." There's actually a Halo mod for this game, surprisingly enough, and even more surprising is that it's actually well made with good effort put into it. It's a pretty novel experience but definitely a fun one if you ever feel like trying it on a day where you feel like you don't have much to do.

For me the formula of success of this game is very simple: 1 - you have total control of your aim and it makes the game incredible 2 - CS GO is simple, very simple in fact. So, all you need to care is positioning, economy and shooting some heads 3 - not a new CS GO every single month. It's the same game, the same amazing game

Man I love CS despite not playing too much anymore. I first played 1.6 round a friends house on his Dads PC and I remember it being really hard. When CS:S came out, I had a PC so I made sure to get it alongside HL2 on release. Played Source pretty much until a year before CSGO and then dabbling with it from release. CS2 release has me excited for the future and I hope the community servers are still a prominent part of the game.

1.6 and CZ had skins and maps too, same for Half Life, making their games deeply customizable has always been a Valve staple since it's inception.

I've never been good at CS, but man, I still love watching tournaments. I don't really know why, but seeing the matches just hypes me up. I can't wait to watch the final Major, I think it will be spicy.

Door Stuck is one of the funniest cs videos ever. Cracks me up every time I see it.

Been playing CS since 1.5 and i'm impressed by this video and how well the Act Man did his homework on the history of CS, the only thing he forgot to mention was that when CSGO released most people disliked it, the playerbase was really small compared to 1.6, most of the pro players stayed on the old CS, it looked like another failure like CSS was, but then came the Arms Deal update (introduction of Skins and cases) and the game had an exponential growth, Valve started making profits and promising to sponsor tournaments, so the greedy pros switched, the game got popular despite being almost the exact same "failed and disliked" game at launch, (Valve took a really long time to improve it and balance out the gameplay). It was skins, betting and gambling mechanics alone that made it popular, I quit after 2 years since everyone became so toxic with the inventory bragging attitude and addiction to opening cases...

Remember playing 1.6 as a 6 year old and here in the Philippines, we have internet cafes and regular players often play 5v5 with bets. I was lucky enough to always be considered to play against 18-20yr olds coz of playing i somehow became slightly above average One of my core memories that i will not trade for anything 🥰

I still have fond memories of stacking vending machines and sofas against doors in CS:S zombie mod. For all the flak that game got the custom games gave it a longevity that even the most finely crafted AAA titles lack

When 343 took over Halo and didn't stick to the Halo feel I fell in love with, I built a PC to play CSGO because I saw it stayed relatively the same since its beginning. Now I thank 343 for changing Halo because now I'm not just Halo player, now I play everything minus Halo.

I've been playing cs go for 4 years now it's one of the few games that brought me closer to my dad something we could bond over! I feel like compared to other modern shooter (like cod mw2) that playing casual actually FEELS casual.

Great video, I just recently started playing CSGO just to try something else out besides COD. It’s a blast, so simple and easy to learn but still challenging especially the more you play. Tried Valorant months back and didn’t get into it much.

Played CS 1.6 on net cafe back than on mid early 2000's. All speakers turn up to the max, it looks like a freaking battlefield and it was awesome.

Truly an Act Man moment

Love to see CS content made by Act Man

It wasn't a prediction there was a community with Rainbow 6 that was playing rounds this way already, it was an expansion upon that. Tom Clancy was the one who created this genre and it was these guys who took it to a whole new level.

I think de_dust2 is where my spirit will rest eternally when I die

I remember starting out playing this on the beta. Even back when the only different between CTs and Terrorists were whether their sleeves were rolled up or not, it was a great fun game

I never knew any of this. It's so cool that your videos have a way to teach people about popular games and how they are always fun and engaging. You keep rocking on ActingMan🤘

Yooooooooo big ups for using the classic insane Edward 3 sec ace at 9:23. Absolutely nailing this video!

“Put down the cheeseburger and start eating healthy meals with Hello Fresh” Act Man says as I prep my burger meal that hello fresh just sent me

Awesome video actman, I love these videos so much. Cause the details you provide covers so much, it’s like your videos are video game history classes. Love em

Condition Zero was actually the first introduction I had into CS, and it was active as hell for servers for the year straight I played it.

I remember that Counter strike slowly started to dominate my LAN-group sessions way back as a teenager when the original mod for Half life first released. It was just good from the start, functional, relatively polished even in the beta-stages, and the game mode was fresh at the time.

Counter-Strike forever revolutionize the FPS with the rise of Esports Counter-Strike and valve has cemented themselves as one of the important contributing factors to the success of Esports as it exists today

Acting King back at it again with the 🔥

I was there for the R8 Revolver launch in CSGO. Shit was literally the Wild West. For a week straight that game was a meme.

Thank you for having good video audio.

I actually liked Condition Zero because it turned Inferno into a night setting

Hey Act Man, thanks a lot for this video, I trying to write a case study on game franchises which have stayed popular for more than 20 years. CS has been around since I was in grade 4 ! Thanks for the video as always

Act man: "theres never been a counter strike in space..." Lunacy: 😢

My friends and I used to have LAN parties to play CS. So many memories of sniping with an MP5 or being scared out of our wits when we heard the AWP 😂

Counter-Strike's very first map in beta 1.0 was cs_mansion, which evolved later into cs_estate. I remember playing my very first game, in a PC gaming room in a basement that [*was totally functionaing as a legal entity*] and spawning as a t after an adult taught me how to actually join a multiplayer LAN game. This was confusing as hell back then coming from Quake.

Love the mention of the older Xbox version! So many memories on that Miami (bank) map.. such a shame it was never featured in later installments as every game on it was a blast. Honorable mentions to fastline and stadium also

Played plenty CS Source in the day, moved onto CS:GO and whenever it gets played at the LAN party that's when the mst noise is made. Just a brilliant game!

The gameplay is simple yet exciting because it's unpredictable, you'll never know what's going to happen next round, never know what's right around the corner.

Condition Zero was actually my first CS experience. I did need to play it online and playing countless bot matches was super fun. Especially since it actually ran on my PC at the time.

I saw alot of romanian servers at the CS 1.6 part of the video. The servers are still full here, and in other parts of Eastern Europe as well and its just as big as it was years ago. Its just that many of us dont play it on Steam necessarily

Just started playing CSGO like a week before the announcement of CS2 and really enjoying it. It is so simple yet so complicated and allows to really learn skills. End of the day it is just fun. Thanks for the quality content Act Man and have a blessed day. Edit* spelling

Helluva intro. Glad to see you covering this timeless masterpiece!

one thing that CS does well is that the maps don't have shit in them. they are neat and crisp and you can always see where people are and whats going on. so much visual clutter on other games.

The splatoon music was a jumpscare haha Great video!

Great video. It is funny that a lot of videos are using that clip of Gabe being asked in 2011 "when are you going to release Counter Strike 2" they released CSGO in 2012.

lmao, loved that edit of the main theme with Door Stuck, lol

Love that Act Man showed video of Lila Panic ZM x) Such good memories

Quick note, Counter-Strike started as a Quake mod called "Navy Seals" then it evolved into Quake II mod "Action Quake 2" which was later ported into Valve's new GoldSrc game engine as Counter-Strike

As someone who played the shit outta starcraft, I actually started laughing out loud at 20:16

As a person who spent almost their entire youth years (countless hours in 1.5, 2000 official hours on 1.6 after I bought it original, before that on cracked versions, God knows how many hours I have spent, and 7000 hours in GO) I must say that this game is unkillable. I am almost 30 (in June) and I can tell you this game always draws you back, no matter with what you replace it - it will be temporary. And you said it: because of its lack of change and its simplicity. I played League from 2011 to 2017 extensively. I got tired of patches after patches after patches. I stopped for few years and only last month decided to give it another go for old time's sake. Well I uninstalled it after 5 games I think. The game is unrecognizable it's impossible to have fun if you don't do your research first and catch up with the "meta". But CS? CS is always CS. You can take 10 years break from it and it will be still the same. People love it, because your 10 y.o son can jump in and have joy by randomly killing the best guy in the server. That's what CS is. No fancy menus, no flashy animation. You hop in - and have fun. Just recently after 7000 hours in it I decided I am tired of competitive CS. But that doesn't mean I don't have fun in it. I just play less and less. Waiting for CS2, because it seems like it will fix a lot of the problems that drove me mad in CS:GO. Awesome video Act Man ! Content like this always makes me want to play some Counter-Strike.

Oh hey I'm in that crowd at 5:52! Thanks for the awesome video on my first and forever love.

First time I played CS:S at a LAN center I was hooked, was so different than anything I played before

Playing 1.5 was some of the best times ever. Pure nostalgic goodness

CS is the king. How many games have come and gone and CS is still here. Long Live the King.

Great video! That was a fun trip down memory lane. Been playing since the first independent client release (1.4?)

Love these types of videos! Keep em coming!

ive been waiting for this video for YEARS, great video as always man, the day always gets better when you upload!

I remember playing when it was just a mod. I would pretend to be sick so I could stay home from school just to play. Warehouse map was my favorite. Everyone would bottleneck at the door, garage door and the vent on the roof. I can't remember the name of the other map I liked but if you were a terrorist your team would start in this really nice house in a canyon and if you went into the bathroom there was a turd in the toilet. It may have been Canyon? I can't remember for sure but man I was fucking hooked.

i still remember the old days when i first played counter-strike on a LAN cafe about 20 years ago. the game is so broken that it has "magic boxes" where flash bangs pass through box corners and out to the other side saving the thrower from getting any flash. playing with total strangers in a 20v20 map and spending hours doing so. game has grown alot but the excitement of playing CS never gets old.

20:09 That's so true, I began watching pro CS around 2018 and it was incredible how the gameplay phases were clear to read, Star Craft is messier but I can still follow somewhat. The one kind of game I tried watching and could literally not understand what was going on on screen was MOBAs, I tried watching DOTA2 and LoL but in either case I just can't follow.

I started playing cs when 1.2 came out pretty sure it was like 80mb lol😂 was so hard to learn but instantly was addicted to it love the game can't wait for number 2. Love the video man

Always a good day when we get a new Act Man video 🎉🎉🎉

Been playing counter-strike for 20 years now :P and its still not getting old

bro im so happy you included the bully soundtrack for the backround music lol

I grew up as a kid playing hundreds of hours of CS: Source from like early middle school through highschool. Zombie mod, minigames, deathrun servers... there's still nothing quite like them.

It’s such a simple yet highly complex game. With skill gap being so incredibly high that people play the game to hone their skills. Or they play it for a good time. VC is absolutely hilarious in this game.

much appreciation for using Bully soundtrack during the video!

I always love the Bully theme music quietly in the background at times😂

A long time ago I was actually ranked in the top 1k. Was basically 3 months after the game came out but yeah. Ah memories