The next era of ‘Counter-Strike’ is here

With a sudden and rare appearance from Valve, the video game company made a surprise announcement for Counter-Strike 2 today. With the franchise’s current title Counter-Strike: Global Offensive leading the charge since 2012, its no surprise that there’s been an uproar of speculation and rumours towards a much-anticipated sequel.

However, Counter-Strike 2 promises to be more than just a ‘new game’, with Valve assuring fans that this new entry to the series is the “largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history, ensuring new features and updates for years to come.”

With an expected launch in summer 2023, select CS:GO players are already being chosen to try the title’s limited test, in hopes of using this period to evaluate features and fix any issues before its worldwide release.

Luckily for existing players, Counter-Strike 2 promises to deliver features that overhauls many features of CS:GO, especially by bringing it into Valve’s new Source 2 engine. You can expect a series of changes, including a new world of updated maps, dynamic volumetric objects, interactive environments and immersive gameplay.

A highlight of the announcement is the integration of responsive smoke grenades (which change CS:GO‘s static effect to a dynamic, volumetric object that interacts with the environment) and player events, promising new opportunities for player strategy.

This announcement is an exciting and revolutionary step for the popular franchise

Many of the existing maps, including Overpass, Nuke, and everyone’s favourite Dust II will return, and be built from the ground up using Source 2’s tools. Although the foundations of map layouts will remain the same, CS2 is eager to work in gameplay changes that improve lighting and character read – ultimately maximising on the new rendering features.

Additionally, Valve will try to keep the community at the centre of its development, with a tease towards Source 2’s new item workshop and tools, that will be available later on to improve how community map makers build, experiment and iterate on their creations.

With every new game in a franchise, players are always worried about the items that they have spent endless hours earning, trading or purchasing. Fortunately, the game promises to transfer a player’s entire CS:GO inventory into the new game, whilst benefiting from the engine’s new lighting, high-resolution models, and materials. (Say hello to your new and improved Case-Hardened Karambit knives!)

It’s going to be a long wait until the summer to get our hands on Counter-Strike 2 unless you’re lucky enough to be involved in the limited test, yet this announcement is an exciting and revolutionary step for the popular franchise – hoping to extend its lifespan for a whole new generation!

If you want the complete breakdown of all Counter-Strike 2 announcements, you can take a look at their Youtube series below: