Counter-Strike 1.0 - On this day
Network multiplayer 20 years ago looked quite different from today, and on the PC platform, it was led by the then-popular Counter-Strike. The so-called "Kanter" was created in 1999 as a user modification for Half-Life, but Valve soon took it under its wing due to its growing popularity. In terms of the time, this meant that the game was played by over a million players, which is almost nothing today compared to battle royale hits.
The game was located in various locations around the world and clashed with two factions. The matches had various tasks such as deactivating the bomb, rescuing the hostages, and eliminating the VIP. It was played in two groups of five, and the players had one life each and at the beginning of the match, they appeared with a gun and a knife. When a player was eliminated, he would become an observer until the start of the next round.
Competitive shooting in the original Counter-Strike reached version 1.6, got a port for the Xbox console in 2003, a sequel subtitled Condition Zero, several spin-off titles, and today's current Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is currently the most played game on Steam and is played by 20 million players a month.