SEPT. 27, 2011 • Valve Corporation told Develop magazine that the most played game on Steam is the original Counter-Strike released 11 years ago, not newer titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops. The Source-engined update of Counter-Strike is the third most played game on Steam. Valve hopes to transition both communities to a new title, Counter-Strike Global Offensive.
Impact: In studying PC game usage DFC has noted that the key to success in this market is longevity. Popular games get played for years and loyal users build a community together. Of course, this makes it extremely challenging to try and migrate an established community to a new product. It is much easier if a company already has some control over the community such as Valve has with Counter-Strike. However, for startups looking to tackle existing products it is a tough challenge and a major barrier to entry that must be carefully considered depending on the product.
