be played with other users with the "Prime" status. This feature also results in more equal matches as there are fewer "smurfs" in these matches. The PC version of Global Offensive also supports private dedicated servers that players may connect to through the community server menu in-game. These servers may be heavily modified and can drastically differ from the base game modes. There have been many community-made mods for the game, one of the popular ones being "kz", a mod that makes players complete obstacle courses requiring advanced strafing and jumping techniques. Development and release Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the sequel to the popular first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Source, developed by Valve. Global Offensives development began when Hidden Path Entertainment attempted to port Counter-Strike: Source onto video game consoles. During its development, Valve saw the opportunity to turn the port into a full game and expand on the predecessor's gameplay. Global Offensive began development in March 2010, and was revealed to the public on August 12, 2011. The closed beta started on November 30, 2011, and was initially restricted to around ten thousand people who received a key at events intended to showcase Global Offensive. After issues with client and server stability were addressed, the beta was opened up to progressively more people, and at E3 2012, Valve announced that Global Offensive would be released on August 21, 2012, with the open beta starting roughly a month before that. Before the public beta, Valve invited professional Counter-Strike players to play-test the game and give feedback. There were plans for cross-platform multiplayer play between Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 players, but this was ultimately dropped so that the PC and Mac versions could be actively updated. On August 21, 2012, the game was publicly released on all platforms except Linux, which would not be released until September 23, 2014. Since the initial release of Global Offensive, Valve has continued to update the game by introducing new maps and weapons, game modes, and weapon balancing changes. One of the first major additions to the game post-release was the "Arms Deal" update. Released on August 13, 2013, the update added cosmetic weapon finishes, or skins, to the game. These items are obtainable by a loot box mechanism; players would receive cases that could be unlocked using virtual keys, purchased through in-game microtransactions. Global Offensive has Steam Workshop support, allowing users