Can you play Counter-Strike 1.6 online in 2025?

Remember when you used to play Counter-Strike 1.6 online with friends? It’s where it all began, and a major part of the reason the series remains as popular as it is today. The formula established back in CS 1.6 remains intact to this day, showing how timeless it really is.

But can you still go back and actually play Counter-Strike 1.6 in 2025 to relive the glory days? Let’s find out.

Can you download Counter-Strike 1.6 in 2025?

Yes, of course you can download Counter-Strike 1.6 in 2025. The game remains available to buy on Steam for $9.99, although you’ll regularly see it drop as low as $0.99. After you’ve got it on your Steam account, it’s just a case of downloading it from there!

However, once you’re on CS 1.6, finding a classic 5v5 game isn’t so easy. The game is filled with custom servers on the server browser, although not many have the iconic gameplay as we know and love it. You might like that, though. There’s no shortage of ways to play Counter-Strike 1.6 online if you’re not fussy about what CS 1.6 maps and modes you play.

How to play Counter-Strike 1.6 online in 2025

Since Counter-Strike 1.6 has no bots, you’ll have to join a custom server to play it nowadays. You can do this via the “Find servers” button on the main menu, although many of these are heavily modded, featuring up to 64 players in a single game. If you want to play classic CS 1.6 online, you’ll have to go elsewhere.

The good news is that the CS 1.6 community is alive and well. Custom servers on sites like GameTracker are your best bet for finding something resembling Counter-Strike 1.6 as you remember it, so we’d start there. If you want, you can even go ahead and download CS 1.6 mods to enhance the experience – it doesn’t have to be all vanilla.

Just find a server, and copy the IP into your in-game console. This will connect you to the game, and if that server isn’t for you, simply try again with a different one. Remember, you can also play Counter-Strike 1.6 online with friends by setting up a dedicated server, so if you can get enough players together, that may be the easiest thing to do.

Why is CS 1.6 still popular in 2025?

There are two reasons. The first: nostalgia is a hell of a drug. But truthfully, the impressive 2025 CS 1.6 player count is not just all thirty-somethings trying to relive the high of their teenage years. The reality is that Counter-Strike 1.6 is still an excellent shooter, and because it runs on just about any hardware in 2025, it still feels great to play. CS 1.6 will be alive for a long time yet.

CS 1.6 player count: Is Counter-Strike 1.6 still active?

It’s all well and good talking about playing online CS 1.6, but it’s no good if there are no players. But good news: the CS 1.6 player count is extremely healthy right now. The game regularly averages well over 10,000 daily players according to SteamDB, and that’s a conservative estimate. So, yes, Counter-Strike 1.6 is definitely still active, even with CS2 and its regular updates now considered the most popular way to enjoy the series.

Can you play CS 1.6 in browser?

Yes – play-cs.com has long been known as the way to play CS 1.6 in browser without downloading anything. This has regional servers, and is definitely not something that Valve has okay’ed. But it’s possible.