On what date was the first public beta of the Counter-Strike mod released?

The first public beta of the Counter-Strike mod was released on June 19, 1999.

Minh Le and Jess Cliffe developed Counter-Strike as a modification for Half-Life. The early release was distributed online while the project was still a community-made mod, before Valve became directly involved.

The date is often confused with later milestones, including Counter-Strike's commercial release in 2000 and Counter-Strike 1.6's later prominence. The first beta was not a standalone retail game; it required Half-Life and represented the beginning of the series.

Counter-Strike's rapid growth came from its team-based bomb-defusal and hostage-rescue gameplay, which contrasted with the deathmatch focus of many contemporary shooters. Its early versions were revised frequently as the developers added maps, weapons, and rules.