Eleven years after its release, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is still among the most-played games, with over 35 million active users. The CS:GO administration sustains this high user number by constantly updating the game content, adding new types of weapon and character skins, and providing several features that enable users to increase their performance. Operations provide great motivation for the CS:GO community. What are these, and why is the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community waiting for new operations so impatiently? Let’s answer.
What are CS:GO Operations?
The operations are a collection of timed event updates that Valve adds to CS:GO. New weapon skins, maps, game modes, and challenges are often included in the operations, which players may accomplish to get access to premium cosmetics and the operation medal to show on their profile. The operations have recently added special weapon collections and cases. With a one-month break in between, each operation is anticipated to last between two and three months. However, it happens frequently for operations to go over their planned duration.
How Do Operations Work in CS:GO?
One needs a pass to join the operation, which can be bought from Steam Market and all other online platforms that enable the trade services. Interestingly, the pass tickets for operations can be gifted, but only a week after their purchase. Okay, let’s say you got the ticket; what happens next?
Once you get a pass to an operation, you will be given a special coin, which will be displayed on your public CS:GO profile, and access to the operation rewards, which include all-new agents, weapon collections, stickers, and more, as well as special rewards, which you can get after completing specific missions.
List of CS:GO Operations in Recent Years
The operations are mostly remembered for the opportunities they created for the CS:GO community. The following are the five most notable CS:GO operations that you should be aware of in order to be prepared for future ones.
- The Wildfire Operation was released on February 17, 2016, and ended on July 15, 2016. The operation brought many popular maps such as Coasts, Cruise, Empire, and Santorini, and collections such as Operation Wildfire Case, Cobblestone, Cache, Overpass, and Gods and Monsters.
- Hydra Operation was from May 23, 2017, to November 13, 2017. Famous maps Agency, Austria, Black Gold, containers: Operation Hydra Case, Cobblestone, and Hydra campaign was part of this operation.
- Shattered Web Operation is unforgettable for CS:GO community for the weapon skins it brought. Rare and famous weapon skins such as MAC-10 | Stalker and AWP | Containment Breach were released together with Shattered Web Operation.
- Operation Broken Fang was released during the pandemic in 2020 and lasted 6 months until May 3, 2021. Today’s popular maps, Engage and Frostbite, were originally parts of the Broken Fang Operation.
- Riptide is the last operation, and it was back on September 21, 2021. This operation included the operation riptide case, which included 17 community-designed weapon finishes and unique knives.
Next CS:GO Operation Release Date: What We Should Know
Even the rumor about the new operation’s release is enough for some gamers to start taking action to prepare for it. Read carefully, because you are not going to have time to think about it at the time when an operation comes. If you are new to the game or want to know the best strategies to prepare for operations, here are our tips:
When the operation is released, people rush to buy operation passes and other stuff like stars to get the newly released skins. However, to do that, they need money in their Steam wallet. If you are planning to buy an operation pass, you will be selling some of your skins to get the money. So, we would suggest taking care of that in advance. The most recent operation pass cost €12.75. By listing some of your liquid skins beforehand, you could get more money than by selling them after the operation’s release because their price will go down after the new operation is released. This one was particularly for obtaining the pass ticket, but it is also applicable to what you should do after that. If you’re there in that first hour, it might not be a bad idea to liquidate a lot of your inventory, especially if these are super common items.
You can set some buy orders for items that you want to invest in or skins that you would like to buy cheaper. As we already mentioned, after the operation release there is a price dip, and if you place your buy orders beforehand for cases, capsules, or skins, you can get them cheaper.
To sum up, operations in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are a good way to build a nice portfolio. The operations are a collection of timed event updates that include new weapon skins, maps, game modes, and challenges. No matter why you want to acquire newly released CS:GO items, an operation is a great way to start, from a price perspective. Although the exact start date of the next operation is not known yet, there are some rumors about it. Above, we listed several important points and actions that you need to know and follow both before the start of the operation and once it has already started.