It’s real! Valve has officially announced that Counter-Strike 2 actually exists and is coming later this year.
What is Counter Strike 2? Counter-Strike 2 will be an update to CS:GO, which will be released in summer 2023. The official website says:
Counter-Strike 2 is the biggest technical innovation in the history of Counter-Strike so far and forms the basis for numerous new functions and updates in the years to come. […]
Counter-Strike 2 will be released this summer as a free upgrade from CS:GO.
via counter-strike.net
Leaks and rumors about Counter-Strike 2 have been around for weeks. For a long time it was unclear what it was. Will it be its own game? Will it be an engine update? What does it improve? It was the big topic for many fans of the tactical shooter, with many questions that have finally been answered.
What does Counter-Strike 2 improve on? Counter-Strike will improve some aspects of the game. On the website, Valve mentions the following content, among others:
As an example of what the revisions look like, Valve has also published some videos, for example on the new smoke grenades:
Counter-Strike 2: Responsive Smokes
More videos
Tests start today
What are these tests? A first limited test phase is scheduled to begin today, March 22, 2023, with which Valve wants to test various functions before publication and eliminate possible problems.
The first reactions: The Counter-Strike community is exploding with joy – who would have expected otherwise? The comments section on Twitter is filled with statements like “Let go!” and “It’s really happening”. Of course, there are also tons of memes that are supposed to represent “freaking out with joy”.
After almost 45 minutes (as of March 22, 6:15 p.m.), the message already has more than 135,000 likes, has been shared more than 45,000 times and seen by 4.5 million users.