At 12mn Hong Kong time, Valve confirmed the release of Counter-Strike 2 on Twitter and on Valve’s YouTube. This comes after months and weeks of speculation from community members, who noticed CSGO’s Twitter with discreet replies.
The echoed statement from the developers and the community is that CS2 is a free replacement for CS: GO. It means that content from the previous game carries over to the sequel, with no extra costs.
On top of a graphic overhaul, maps from the old days of Counter-Strike, one of the best tactical shooter games, are coming back with a facelift. Maps such as cs_italy make a comeback under the new engine, but current maps also get a new lease. Community tools are now upgraded to accommodate the features brought by CS2.
New Counter Strike 2 Features
Valve once again pushes boundaries by introducing the subtick system. Though not detailed, it promises to eliminate issues of tickrates, which results in better responsiveness. They also reinvented the smokescreen by making it exist in the world as a volumetric object.
This change makes it, so players see the same shape of fog and interact with the world in unique ways. Interactions with the frag grenade cause the smoke to clear out for a while, and bullets create holes through them.
Valve released CS2 for limited tests for stress testing infrastructure and feedback collection. This is in line with their plan to release CS2 later in the Summer. That means that events from June to August could be the last events for CS: GO.
Valve only stated the CS2 expects to be shipped in Summer, with no definite date. What it could mean is that the community is once again tasked to wait for something inevitable.
There is not much to worry about, however, since before limited tests, Valve flew in prominent figures to test beforehand. Yet, reports discovered that the dev team took over 2 years of development to reach this stage with CS2.
Skins and Other Features
On the topic of skins, the team is restricting the modification of inventory items. CS2 restricts applying and scraping stickers, trade-up contracts, and other means. However, this restriction doesn’t apply in CS: GO. Players invited to the limited tests are in the handfuls, but the team is looking to expand that list over time.
These players are selected by, but not limited to, recent playtime on Valve official servers, trust factor, and Steam account standing. What this means is that players who play on third-party servers are less likely to get an invitation. There were some complaints from prominent figures in CS that didn’t get the invite, and Valve was quick to respond to them.
The future content of Counter Strike 2 is “future-proof” according to the community. With the transition to the source engine, updates and fixes are now seamless. Counter-Strike joins Dota 2 in Valve’s list of live service games that run on their newest Source 2 engine.
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