“New players can still play every game mode, play on community servers, and play workshop maps,” the studio explained. So today we’re revising the offering for new players.” Unfortunately, over time, those benefits have become an incentive for bad actors to hurt the experience of both new and existing players.
“Along with all the gameplay that we made available for free, new players had access to drops, Ranks, Skill Groups, and a free path to Prime matchmaking. “We see new players entering CS:GO all the time, and it’s as important as ever that anyone in the world can pick up and play the game for free,” said Valve. Valve, however, has recently made surprise changes to the free-to-play business model in an effort to make the game more enjoyable, prevent hacking, and reduce toxicity for everyone. For those of you who don’t know, achieving Prime status will match you up exclusively with other Prime players, which includes players who actually purchased the game back when it was still buy-to-play. It’s been nearly three years since Counter Strike: Global Offensive shifted from buy-to-play to free-to-play with a free track towards Prime status.
