Counter Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

hasbeenofficially announcedandisavailable tosomepeopletoday.Valvewroteon TwitterthatlimitedtestingofCS2willbegintoday."Thepostexplainsthat"every system, every piece of content,every part of the C-Sgameexperienceisbeingoverhauled."Thegame'swebsitedescribes it as"thebiggesttechnologicalleapin Counter-Strikehistory"and promises years of updates and new features.

 

 

 

 

Accordingtothegame'sFAQ,thefullversionofthegamewillbereleased inthesummerof 2023. It will be free to play.

 

 

 

 

CS2 is based on Valve's Source 2 engine and includesimprovementstothe game's core mechanics,suchasimproved smoke grenades anda "sub-techupdate,"whichValve says will"informtheserverofthe exactmomenttostartmoving,shootingorthrowinganida."Theupdatesinclude.(Therealso appears tobefootageof peopleclearingsmoke from agrenadewith another grenade.) The game will alsofeatureanupdated map,improvedvisuals,animprovedUIandreconfigured sound.

In a video titled"Leveling Up The World,"Valvestatesthattherewill benewmapsin CS2,buttheskills ofexperienced playersshouldbepreserved.Italso talks aboutthree"levels"of maps in thegame:"touchstone"levels, such as Dust II,willhavevisualchanges,butwillessentiallyremainunchanged andallowplayerstoexperiencenew gameplay in a familiar setting.Somemapshavealsobeenupdatedandredesigned,withSource 2 features added orcompletelyredesigned.

 

 

 

 

Accordingtothetweet,thereisalsoaspecialtie-intoremovegun jammers.

The"LimitedTesting"willbeginWednesday,andparticipantswill be selectedbased on factorssuchas "recenttimeplayingon Valve'sofficial servers, trustlevel, and Steam accountstatus.Iftheyareselected,theywillreceivea notificationthatwill allow them to sign up forthe CS:GO main menu.Thosewithgameexperienceare allowed to streamand post videos, so even thosewho can't play the game shouldbeabletoseethe improved smoke and lighting effects.

 

 

 

 

For now,the limited testcanonlyplay thefamous Dust II mapfrom Counter-Strikein Deathmatch and"UnrankedCompetitiveMatchmaking"modes,butValvesaidthatother modes and maps willappearin futurereleases of thetest. The limited test is alsofornowonlyforWindows,it'snotavailable formacOS or Linux, andthere'snomentionof Valve'sportableSteam Deckin the FAQ.

 

Fortunately, Valveclaimsthatallitemscollected in CS:GOareavailable in the new game and"alluseSource 2 lighting and materials."Valve alsostatesthat all stock weapons have beenupdatedwith"high-resolution models."TheannouncementalsostatedthatanyonewithabannedCS:GOaccountwill not be able to play CS2 on Valve'sservers.

 

 

 

 

"Thefulllistof newgamefeatures will be announced at launch, but duringalimited testing period wewillevaluatesomeofthesefeaturesinpreparationfor theglobalrelease."ValvespokeswomanKasiAitchison Boylewrote:"Valveappearstobeplanningtoaddmorefeaturesto the game,the companysaidthat 'therewillbemore'and thatalldetails of Counter-Strike 2willberevealedinjust'a few months. The company stated that alldetails of Counter-Strike 2will be revealedin just"a few months."

 

Thisannouncement comes after weeks of speculation about apossibleCS:GOupdate. Earlier this month,journalist Richard Lewis reported thataCS:GOupdatewasin the works. Some usershavealsonoticedmentionsofthe new game inNvidiadriverupdates,andPCGamesN found that ValvehasappliedfortheCS2 trademarkafewdays beforerelease. The updatecomesmorethana decade after the launch of CS:GO andmorethan20 years after theoriginal CS.

 

 

 

 

ThetimingofValve'sannouncement is... interesting. The newswasannouncedduring Epic's"State of Unreal"event atGame Developers Conference2023, where Valve'srivals in thePC game store and game enginearecurrentlyworkingonamajorUnrealEngineupdate.Theupdateisexpectedto be announced; seethe latest news from GDC 2023here.