CS: GO Now Free-To-Play On Steam

Valve's popular tactical shooter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, has gone free-to-play. Alongside the release of the game's new battle royale mode, Danger Zone, the publisher announced that Steam users can now download and play CS: GO at no cost, while all existing players are automatically upgraded to Prime Status.

As an added perk, those who've been updated to Prime Status are entitled to a free weapon skin for a limited time: the Souvenir MP5-SD | Lab Rat. In order to get it, you'll need to earn 250 XP in the aforementioned Danger Zone, which can be done by killing enemies, completing objectives, and surviving. New players can also choose to upgrade to Prime Status for $15.

Much like Fortnite and other battle royale games, Danger Zone drops players onto a shrinking map, with the goal being to be the last one remaining. Valve describes it as a "fast-paced battle royale game mode built on CS:GO's tactical gameplay," and it features some elements not commonly found in other games of its kind, like the ability earn money by completing contracts, opening safes, and carrying hostages to a rescue zone.

Another area where Danger Zone differs from other battle royale games is its player count. Rather than supporting 100 players, Danger Zone's cap is limited to either 16 players when jumping in solo or 18 when playing as a two- or three-person squad. Given this smaller player count, Danger Zone matches are also much shorter than those in other battle royale games, typically lasting around 10 minutes by Valve's estimate.

Danger Zone is available now as a free update for CS: GO. The mode will be installed automatically when players login to the game.