If you ever had second thoughts in buying CS:GO on Steam, mainly because of the number of experienced gamers playing the games already — you’re in luck. Valve just released a FREE offline version on Steam, for all of us to enjoy.
You can now test out the gameplay first, practice the mechanics, learn the maps and train with bots to better prepare yourself should you buy the main game and battle it out with actual people.
Training courses are also available to help new gamers get acclimated to the potential of playing multiplayer/online. The free version also lets players watch CS:GO Matches through GOTV, the respective spectating platform for CS GO.
Custom maps can also be downloaded from the workshop and played for as long as you’re still offline. Taking it online will prompt the game to send you a “Buy the game” message.
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The free version was part of an update released by Valve several days ago. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update also included new tournament items for the FACEIT 2018 London CS:GO Major Championship and the London 2018 Pick’Em Challenge.
Along with that, Panorama has now been made the default user interface and the old Scaleform UI. “-legacyscaleformui” is no longer supported.
This is clearly a strategy by Valve to get new players to try and buy the game. And I think most of us aren’t complaining. In my opinion, the CSGO offline mode is not a demo but essentially the main game itself, just without the online and multiplayer features.
The free game is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac on Steam.