What is Counter-Strike Nexon? | CS Zombies Explained

You may have heard the name Counter-Strike Nexon before. Chances are that you’ve never actually played the game, as is the case for most CS players. But the game still attracts a bunch of players every day. Not quite as many as the other games in the series, but enough to pique our curiosity. So what is Counter-Strike Nexon, and why is it so popular? Let’s take a look.

What is Counter-Strike Nexon?

Counter-Strike Nexon is a free-to-play FPS based on CS 1.6. It was first released on Steam back in 2014, under the name Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies, before being rebranded in 2024. The game is much different from other Counter-Strike titles. As the previous name might suggest, Counter-Strike Nexon is focused on fighting zombies in PvE and PvP gameplay. There are tons of new weapons and game modes to enjoy, with Counter-Strike Nexon having a much less realistic tone than the mainline CS games. This can be seen in the character models, too, which take a fantasy approach as opposed to the military Agents you see in CS2.

Interestingly, you can technically play regular CS game modes in Counter-Strike Nexon via the Classic Mode, but it’s not all too common. Zombies are the main appeal here.

Counter-Strike Nexon features all of the iconic CS 1.6 maps you know and love, but many have been changed slightly to fit the zombie theme. There are even some exclusive maps that you can’t find in any other Counter-Strike game.

Because of its ongoing popularity, Counter-Strike Nexon continues to receive fresh updates, frequently adding new content and fixing bugs as needed. It also features limited-time events, which players can participate in for extra engagement. It does have plenty of microtransactions, which may put off some players.

One of the most interesting elements of Counter-Strike Nexon is its Studio mode, which lets players design custom maps in-game and adjust the rules to create a completely fresh experience. It’s block-based, giving it some serious Minecraft vibes. These creations can be shared with other players.

Who is the developer of Counter-Strike Nexon?

Although Valve is listed as the Counter-Strike Nexon developer, the South Korean-Japanese studio Nexon is actually the primary developer of the game. This is why it represents such a stark departure from the other games in the Counter-Strike series.

Counter-Strike Nexon System Requirements

To check if you can run the game, we’ve listed all the Counter-Strike Nexon system requirements below.

As you can see, it’s a little more demanding than the CS 1.6 system requirements, but at this point, Nexon has so much more content than the game it’s based on that it makes total sense.