Counter-Strike: Neo

Counter-Strike Neo is an instalment in the Counter-Strike series developed by Namco for the Japanese arcade market under license from Valve. It was initially released exclusively in Namco's LEDZONE video arcades, where customers could play multiplayer arcade games over a LAN connection, but was released in other arcades after its official launch in 2005.

Unlike the original Counter-Strike, which focuses on realistic, contemporary battles between terrorists and counter-terrorists, Counter-Strike Neo takes place in an anime-inspired, futuristic science fiction setting. Instead of terrorists and counter-terrorists, the two opposing teams are NEO, a megacorporation whose wealth and unethical command of nanotechnology has allowed them to grow beyond the control of the government and seize entire cities by force, and the Cosmopolitan Special Forces (CSF), a global task force formed by the United Nations to topple NEO and restore democracy.

Though the setting, levels, player models, and graphics are completely different to those of its predecessor, the core Counter-Strike gameplay remains mostly unchanged. As a member of either CSF or NEO, players win by completing objectives or eliminating all members of the enemy team with a variety of purchasable weapons. In most game modes, NEO win if they successfully perpetrate an act of terror (i.e. detonating a bomb) or by eliminating all of the CSF players, whereas the CSF win by either preventing the act of terror (i.e. defusing the bomb) or eliminating all of the NEO players.

Counter-Strike Neo received a major update in 2005, referred to as Counter-Strike Neo ver.2, which marked an end to the open testing period. This coincided with the launch of a dedicated website for the game as well as a series of free visual novels, Counter-Strike Neo: White Memories, which expanded the game's universe with an original story.

On February 1, 2010, Namco shut down the online servers for Counter-Strike Neo, but assured fans that they would still be able to play the game via LAN in participating arcades.