The announcement of Counter-Strike 2 and the recent limited test has resulted in a huge uptick in the original game’s player base.

Valve finally announced Counter-Strike 2 last week, with the limited test going live around the same time (unless you’re banned in the base game). Whether it’s due to the immense hype or lapsed players returning and preparing for the sequel, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hit a new peak concurrent total yesterday with 1,519,547 players, as per SteamDB.

The last major record was 1,308,963 concurrent players in April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Of course, given Counter-Strike 2’s announcement, many of the +200,000 additional players may be brand new and seeing what the fuss is about.

Counter-Strike 2 releases this Summer for PC and will be a free upgrade for the current game. The player’s inventory carries over and benefits from improved lighting and materials. Stock weapons are getting high-resolution models, but legacy models and finishes are still supported.

The limited test only offers Deathmatch and Unranked Competitive on Dust2, there will be other modes, maps and features over time.