Counter-Strike 2 averaged 797,324 concurrent players on Steam in October 2026, Steam Charts' close for the month shows. That is 1.03% below September and the eighth monthly fall in a row, the longest losing run in Steam Charts' record for the game's Steam app. It is also the smallest of the eight drops: at the October close the slide was still running, but slowing.
October's average is the lowest since February 2024. The month's peak, 1,402,441 on Saturday 10 October, was 3.3% below September's.
October 2026 CS2 player count: the final numbers
Steam Charts' close for the month:
- Average concurrent players: 797,324.15, down 8,313.68 on September
- Change: −1.03%
- Peak: 1,402,441, set at 14:01 UTC on Saturday 10 October
That average is 15.9% below October 2025's 948,244 and 23.3% below March 2025's 1,039,663, the month of the all-time peak. Every month from March 2024 through September 2026 averaged more. February 2024, at 786,631, was the last month that averaged less.
The run of falls since winter: March −1.38%, April −8.83%, May −4.32%, June −1.72%, July −6.92%, August −3.28%, September −2.38%, October −1.03%. Each of the last three has been shallower than the one before, and October's drop is less than an eighth of April's.
Steam Charts tracks Counter-Strike under one Steam app, 730, back to July 2012, so its record covers the CS:GO years too. Before this year, the longest run of monthly falls in that record was six, from February to July 2021. Eight months is a record losing streak, built from eight separate falls rather than one crash, the largest April's −8.83%.
The best weekend came early, and every weekend after it was lower
The month's high fell on 10 and 11 October, when Steam Charts logged 1,402,441 and 1,400,751. That was also the weekend of the ESL Pro League Season 24 playoffs in Katowice. The timing lines up, but the data cannot show that the event drew players in.
After that, each weekend peak came in below the one before:
- Saturday: 10 Oct 1,402,441 → 17 Oct 1,359,296 → 24 Oct 1,334,393 → 31 Oct 1,270,982
- Sunday: 11 Oct 1,400,751 → 18 Oct 1,344,264 → 25 Oct 1,316,056 → 1 Nov 1,283,759
From the first of those Saturdays to the last, the peak fell 9.4%. The last of those Saturdays was the day of the PGL Masters Bucharest grand final, and it was still the lowest of the four.
The last patch of the month brought no visible bump. The 28 October update, which added a silent-reload toggle, went out late that evening UTC, and the next two days peaked 1.9% and 2.6% below the same weekdays a week earlier. Rush Hour at least lifted September's peaks for about two days, and that month still closed down.
One data caveat: Steam Charts logged two zero readings in October, at 01:00 UTC on 22 October and at 14:02 UTC on 26 October, the hour CS2 usually peaks. The 26 October daily peak of 1,020,587 is therefore an artefact of a missing reading and is left out of the daily comparisons here. Both zeros are very likely counted in Steam Charts' monthly average. Without them it would be roughly 2,000 higher, still a fall and still the smallest of the eight.
Is CS2 dying? What the numbers actually say
No. Both its average and its peak are eroding, but Valve's most-played chart for 2 November ranks Counter-Strike 2 first, with a peak of 1,089,723 against Dota 2's 701,331.
On the morning of 3 November, Steam Charts' trailing 24-hour peak showed the same figure. Further down that list, the order does not follow peak players. At 06:11 UTC on 3 November, an off-peak hour, Valve's live API reported 422,904 people in the game.
Measured against the top, October's peak was 22.9% under the March 2025 record of 1,818,368.
What November has to beat
November has usually been a growth month. Through 2025, six of the last seven Novembers grew: +4.18% in 2019, +8.98% in 2020, +6.97% in 2021, +2.08% in 2022, +2.74% in 2024 and +3.51% in 2025. The exception, 2023's −9.80%, came during the drop after CS2 replaced CS:GO.
The PGL Major Singapore starts on 24 November, though its playoff days fall in December. A November average above 797,324 would end the streak.
A method note: Steam Charts and SteamDB both read Valve's API, so they are not independent sources. Steam Charts reads it hourly, SteamDB every five minutes for top games. Steam Charts samples hourly, so each "peak" here is the highest hourly reading, not a true intraday high.
FAQ
How many players does CS2 have right now? At 06:11 UTC on 3 November 2026, an off-peak hour, 422,904 people were playing Counter-Strike 2, according to Valve's live API. Valve's chart for 2 November gave a daily peak of 1,089,723, and Steam Charts' average for October was 797,324.
What was the CS2 player count in October 2026? Steam Charts closed October 2026 at an average of 797,324.15 concurrent players. That was 1.03% below September and the lowest monthly average since February 2024. The month peaked at 1,402,441 on 10 October.
How many months in a row has CS2 lost players? As of the October 2026 close, eight, from March to October. No other run of monthly falls in Steam Charts' record for the game's Steam app, which goes back to 2012, has been that long. Before this year the longest was six, in 2021. October's −1.03% was the smallest of the eight drops.
Is CS2 dying? No. Its October average was the lowest since February 2024 and the eighth monthly fall in a row, but Valve's chart for 2 November still ranked it the most-played game on Steam, well ahead of Dota 2.
What is the highest CS2 player count ever? The highest monthly peak Steam Charts has recorded is 1,818,368 concurrent players, in March 2025. Because it samples hourly, the true intraday record may have been slightly higher.
Sources: Steam Charts monthly history, trailing figures and hourly series for app 730; Steam Charts' and SteamDB's own method pages; Valve's ISteamUserStats/GetNumberOfCurrentPlayers and ISteamChartsService/GetMostPlayedGames. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
