How much data does Counter-Strike: Global Offensive use?

how much data does CSGO use


In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, players work in teams of 5 to perpetrate or prevent terrorist attacks on different maps. Like other first-person shooters, CS:GO refreshes many times per second so that players can respond quickly to what’s happening in the game. Because the game includes 10 players and refreshes often, playing it uses a fair amount of mobile data.

If you’re playing CS:GO on a limited 4G LTE connection, you might need to monitor your data use to keep it below your monthly data cap. Here’s how much mobile data you use downloading, updating, and playing CS:GO on Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Playstation 3, Xbox, or Xbox 360:


How much data do you use downloading Counter-Strike?

Game downloads typically use much more data than playing the game. Often, the hour you spend downloading a new game onto your console uses as much data as months of gameplay. Also, the download size of a game tends to increases with each patch and update. These are the download sizes for CS:GO as of March 2019:

Platform Download size
Microsoft Windows 7 GB
OS X 7 GB
Linux 7 GB
Playstation 3 2.24 GB
Xbox 360 2.71 GB

Afraid your data plan won’t support the download? To preserve mobile data, purchase the disk, instead of the download, and install the game offline.

Photo by artubr

How much data do you use updating Counter-Strike?

Over the years, Valve has released dozens of patches and updates to CS:GO. The Danger Zone update, which added a battle royale mode in December 2018, was one of the larger updates at 1 GB.

Stay up to date with Counter-Strike updates here.

Worried about using too much data on patches and updates? Keep yourself from going over your monthly data limit by turning off auto-updates and then manually updating the game when you know you have GBs to spare (at the beginning of the month, for example).


How much data do you use playing Counter-Strike?

CS:GO 5v5 multiplayer uses about 100 to 150 MB per hour of gameplay. The exact amount of mobile data you use depends on the number of players in the game, your frame rate, and the tick rate of the server:

  • The number of players in the game has a huge effect on how much data you use playing Counter-Strike. The more players in a game, the more data your internet network needs to exchange with other players’ networks. Danger Zone, which includes 18 players instead of 10 players, uses more data than other multiplayer modes.
  • A higher frame rate refreshes the game more often, so you exchange more up-to-date data with other players in the game. A lower frame rate will save you data, but negatively affect your performance since it makes it harder for you to react quickly in the game. 
  • The server tickrate also affects your data use. A 128-tick server, which refreshes the game 128 times every second, uses more than twice as much data as a 64-tick server, which refreshes the game 64 times every second. If you use a 64 tick server to play 5v5 CS:GO, the game uses about 90 MB of data per hour. If you use a 124 tick server, the game uses as much as 250 MB of data per hour.
Photo by artubr

Upgrade to unlimited 4G LTE

Tired of keeping track of how much data you use playing CS:GO? With our installed mobile broadband connection, you can spend an unlimited number of hours on the game, even if you can’t get cable or DSL internet where you live.  

Call EvdodepotUSA 866-439-6630 to find out more about unlimited data plans for rural gamers.