Take notes, Valve.
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/4D81-BB44-4F5C-9B...
(Veering offtopic here) Remember that Valve invented the free-to-play business model when they made TF2 free. As Gabe Newell said in some interview long ago, they made more money from TF2 after it went F2P ("sell more hats!")
Point being, being a paid vs free game is largely irrelevant to the profitability & engineering budget.
That said, I'm not sure why you say CS is a paid game. It is also free-to-play. Is some playable content locked behind a paywall?
Hopefully competition from Valorant and others puts more pressure to make things happen at Valve.