CS:GO hit 20 million monthly users, as most it ever had in one month

Want to make a popular game in 2018? We have a recipe: a shooter game, a Battle Royale mode, free-to-play system, (lootboxes?), ranking. 

You all do know (do you?) that Valve made CS:GO free at the beginning of December 2018. As a result, the game boosted numbers of live players. In fact, during the first days of last month of 2018 there were nearly 600,000 players online, for the first time since March (the number peaked at 672,000) — with an average of 450,000 people during the rest of the year. 

As Nors3 (CS:GO observer) noted, the game drew 20,535,709 unique players in December — most ever recorded number.

December saw the average of 395,509 online players – 28% growth compared to November. Game's latest peak overall was 746,548 people, while the all-time peak is 850,485 back in April 2016. 

CS:GO dropped rates since last summer, so Valve decided to change the game. Online will drop again, most likely. But with a new mode — why not to wipe your dusty barrels and remind the world who's the boss?