Analysis of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

This paper explores the nature of multiplayer first-person shooter video games, which have been very popular. We have chosen Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) as the benchmark in this study. Many data from official CS:GO tournaments and public match are collected for the analysis, whereas game refinement measure is employed for the assessment with a focus on two aspects: gameplay and rounds system. The results show that the gameplay aspect has lower game refinement, i.e., the game is highly skillful, whereas the rounds system aspect has higher game refinement, i.e., the game is highly stochastic. The combination of the two aspects successfully balances the skillfulness and chance, which results in their popularity. In addition, since their release, CS: GO has sold more than 40 million game copies, awarded as “Best eSports Game of The Year” and updated maps and successfully maintain the game balance of the maps, as measured by game refinement.