Counter-Strike games in order: release dates from 1999 to 2004

Counter-Strike was released in 1999 as a mod for Half-Life, Valve wrote on its CS:GO blog. This article follows the public beta, version 1.0, the Xbox version, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source.

Key dates

• Counter-Strike Beta 1 released: June 19, 1999
• Beta 3.0 released: Sept. 14, 1999
• Beta 3.1 patch released: Sept. 16, 1999
• Version 1.0 released: Nov. 9, 2000
• Counter-Strike for Xbox street date: Holiday 2003
• Condition Zero released on Steam: March 23, 2004
• Valve announces Half-Life 2 Steam offers with the final Counter-Strike: Source for the next day: Oct. 6, 2004

1999: the beta releases

The news archive on counter-strike.net dates Counter-Strike Beta 1 to June 19, 1999.

On Sept. 10, 1999, the team wrote that it had moved to its own domain, www.counter-strike.net, after leaving PlanetHL. It said it did not leave because it was unhappy, calling PlanetHL “a great host.”

Beta 3.0 followed on Sept. 14, 1999. The release notes include:

• a knife
• a kevlar and helmet combination
• the Fabrique Nationale P90 submachine gun
• a radio system
• four new maps: cs_tire, cs_militia, cs_hideout and cs_ship

The team also brought cs_mansion back into the map rotation. Players had to delete their existing cstrike folder to install the 16.9 MB package.

A patch to version 3.1 came on Sept. 16, 1999. It was 1.2 MB and required Beta 3.0 to be installed first. The patch fixed a bullet penetration bug, lowered the radio sound volume and changed the disorientation system and flashbang shrapnel.

In October 1999 the team started preparing mappers for Beta 4. The Oct. 17 post described a bombing scenario in which the Terrorist commander starts with a bomb to plant and three Counter-Terrorists carry defusal kits. It said defusing takes five seconds and added that the details “will surely be changed/tweaked.” An Oct. 4 post said Beta 4 would add the Steyr Scout sniper rifle.

2000: version 1.0 and the commercial release

The November 2000 news on counter-strike.net dates version 1.0 to Nov. 9, 2000.

In an overview archived in August 2002, Valve described the release this way:

“After a one-year public Beta, Counter-Strike was commercially released in Fall 2000. It has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.”

– Valve, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero overview, archived Aug. 2, 2002

2003: Counter-Strike on Xbox

Xbox.com’s game page, archived on Dec. 30, 2004, describes Counter-Strike as making its “console debut exclusively on Xbox and Xbox Live.” It lists Valve as developer, Microsoft Game Studios as publisher, a street date of Holiday 2003 and a price of $19.99.

The page names two game types, Bomb Defusal and Hostage Rescue, playable over Xbox Live or System Link. It also lists seven exclusive new multiplayer maps and the classic map Dust.

2004: Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

Condition Zero was a co-production by Gearbox and Valve, published and distributed by Sierra Entertainment under license. Valve’s overview, archived Aug. 2, 2002, said it would add single-player action, with more than 20 new missions, and that it was “coming Fall 2002.”

Valve announced on Steam on March 23, 2004, that Condition Zero was released. Players who had pre-ordered through Steam had to restart Steam and launch the game from their library. Owners of an existing Counter-Strike Steam subscription could order by April 1 at a special price of $29.95. A new dedicated server release was available the same day.

2004: Counter-Strike: Source

Valve’s Oct. 6, 2004 announcement said the Half-Life 2 Steam offers would be ready for purchase the next day at 11 a.m. PST. Anyone who bought through Steam would get the final version of Counter-Strike: Source immediately. The Counter-Strike: Source beta closed the same day, and Valve thanked the “thousands of gamers” who took part.

The offers were:

What came next

Valve describes the series’ iterations as 1.6, Source and Global Offensive. The 1.6 release is covered in Counter-Strike 1.6 release, CS:GO’s launch in CS:GO release in 2012, and the move to Counter-Strike 2 in From CS:GO to CS2.