''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer

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first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to prevent it (bomb defusal, hostage rescue, escort mission). The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counter-Strike''. It was initially released as a modification ("mod") for '' Half-Life'' that was designed by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe before the rights to the mod's intellectual property were acquired by Valve, the developers of ''Half-Life'', who then turned ''Counter-Strike'' into a retail product released in 2000. The original ''Counter-Strike'' was followed by '' Counter-Strike: Condition Zero'', developed by Turtle Rock Studios and released in March 2004. A previous version of ''Condition Zero'' that was developed by Ritual Entertainment was released alongside it as ''Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes''. Eight months later, Valve released '' Counter-Strike: Source'', a remake of the original ''Counter-Strike'' and the first in the series to run on Valve's newly created Source engine. The fourth game in the main series, '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', was released by Valve in 2012 for Windows,

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, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Hidden Path Entertainment, who worked on ''Counter-Strike: Source'' post-release, helped to develop the game alongside Valve. There have been several third-party spin-off titles created for Asian markets over the years. These include the ''Counter-Strike Online'' series, ''Counter-Strike Neo'', and ''Counter-Strike Nexon: Studio''.

Gameplay

''Counter-Strike'' is an objective-based, multiplayer

first-person shooter. Two opposing teams—the Terrorists and the Counter Terrorists—compete in game modes to complete objectives, such as securing a location to plant or defuse a bomb and rescuing or guarding hostages. At the end of each round, players are rewarded based on their individual performance with in-game currency to spend on more powerful weapons in subsequent rounds. Winning rounds results in more money than losing and completing objectives such as killing enemy players gives cash bonuses. Uncooperative actions, such as killing teammates, results in a penalty.

Main series

''Counter-Strike''

Originally a modification for ''Half-Life'', the rights to ''Counter-Strike'', as well as the developers working on it, were acquired by Valve in 2000. The game received a port to Xbox in 2003. It was also ported to OS X and Linux in the form of a beta in January 2013. A full release was published in April 2013.

''Condition Zero''

''Counter-Strike'' was followed-up with ''Counter-Strike: Condition Zero'', developed by Turtle Rock Studios and released in 2004. It used the ''Half-Life'' GoldSrc engine, similar to its predecessor. Besides the multiplayer mode, it also included a single-player mode with a "full" campaign and bonus levels. The game received mixed reviews in contrast to its predecessor and was quickly followed with a further entry to the series titled '' Counter-Strike: Source''.

''Source''

''Counter-Strike: Source'' was the first publicly released game by Valve to run on the Source engine. ''Counter-Strike: Source'' was initially released as a

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to members of the Valve Cyber Café Program on August 11, 2004. On August 18, 2004, the beta was released to owners of '' Counter-Strike: Condition Zero'' and those who had received a '' Half-Life 2'' voucher bundled with some ATI

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video cards. While the original release only included a version for Microsoft Windows, the game eventually received a port to OS X on June 23, 2010, with a Linux port afterwards in 2013.

''Global Offensive''

''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' was the fourth release in the main, Valve-developed ''Counter-Strike'' series in 2012. Much like ''Counter-Strike: Source'' the game runs on the Source engine. It is available on Microsoft Windows, OSX, and Linux, as well as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and is backwards compatible on the Xbox One console.

Spin-offs

''Neo''

A Japanese arcade adaptation of ''Counter-Strike'', the original ''Half-Life'' multiplayer modification. It is published by Namco and runs on a Linux system. The game involves anime-designed characters in a futuristic designed version of ''Counter-Strike''. A selection of single-player missions, mini-games, and seasonal events were added to prolong the game's interest with players.

''Online'' series

''Counter-Strike Online'' is a free-to-play spin-off available in much of eastern Asia. It was developed by Nexon, with oversight from Valve. It uses a micropayment model that is managed by a custom version of the

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

back-end. Announced in 2012 and aimed at the Asian gaming market, a sequel titled ''Counter-Strike Online 2'' was developed by Nexon on the Source game engine and released in 2013.

''Nexon: Studio''

In August 2014, Nexon announced ''Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies'', a free-to-play, zombie-themed spin-off, developed on the GoldSrc game engine. On September 23, 2014, an open beta was released on Steam. The game launched on October 7, 2014, featuring 50 maps and 20 game modes. The game features both player versus player modes such as team deathmatch, hostage rescue, bomb defusal, and player versus environment modes such as cooperative campaign missions and base defending. Reception from critics was generally negative with criticism aimed at the game's poor user interface, microtransactions, and dated graphics. On October 30, 2019, ''Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies'' was renamed to ''Counter-Strike Nexon: Studio''.

Competitive play

''Counter-Strike'' has over 20 years of competitive play beginning with the original ''Counter-Strike''. The first major tournament was hosted in 2001 at the Cyberathlete Professional League. Cyberathlete Professional League, along with World Cyber Games and Electronic Sports World Cup were among the largest tournaments for the ''Counter-Strike'' series until 2007. Since 2013, Valve have hosted ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championships with large prizes. These have become the most prestigious tournaments in CS:GO.

Reception

''Counter-Strike'' is considered one of the most influential first person shooters in history. The series has a large competitive community and has become synonymous with first person shooters. , the ''Counter-Strike'' franchise has sold over 25 million units.

References

{{Authority control Asymmetrical multiplayer video games Counter-Strike First-person shooters Online games Tactical shooter video games Valve Corporation franchises Valve Corporation games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1999 Video games about bomb disposal