CS:GO SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis of Counter Strike: Global Offensive:

Hello everyone, so I had written this for a game design course and I thought I should share this with you for anyone who'd like it. This is an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses CS:GO possesses and opportunities, threats it faces currently.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), developed by Valve, is an online multiplayer game and vastly popular among gamers. Various major eSports championships are conducted every year with massive prizes. Even after 19 years since the first title of Counter Strike, it is still going strong.


STRENGTHS

• CS:GO is popular among online gamers mainly due to the nostalgia it brings of its predecessors like CS 1.6, CS source.
• Its unique gameplay like different recoil patterns of different guns, use of tactical grenades for different tactical advantages, etc makes it different from other online multiplayer games.
• The game features having weapons skins to flaunt in the game. This encourages players to spend money for the in-game items as having cool and expensive skins is preferred by all- both newcomers and the professionals

• It is mainly affected by its anti cheating system which hackers have bypassed many times and still do. Players have expressed concerns over this and although Valve keeps updating the anti-cheat system hackers somehow are able to overcome it.
• Another problem players face is the bad matchmaking of ranked matches. The lower ranked players are often matched with the players way above their skill groups.

• Valve has made the game F2P (Free to Play) a few years back which has reeled in many players who otherwise wouldn’t have played the game. The constant updating of gameplay mechanics and maps would further attract many players as many still consider CS:GO as the biggest eSport.

• The hackers and poor matchmaking many times frustrates players and many have considered finally leaving the game.
• Also the release of other online multiplayer games like Call Of Duty Warzone, Valorant jeopardizes the place of CS:GO in the market. Even some professional CS:GO players and streamers like 'ScreaM', 'TenZ and 'Freakazoid' have shifted to Valorant recently due to its similar gameplay yet new features. Also some say they see no future in CS:GO.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• The game needs better updates for overall stability and a better matchmaking system. The game is played on many low end computers so it should be supported.
• The problem of hackers is going to persist so the system has to be kept improving. The players also help in banning them by reporting and Valve keeps the players’ trust by allowing the high ranked players to overlook the replays and help to ban hackers. Such helping community needs to be rewarded better to keep investing their time in the game.