Counter-Strike 2 Is Now Live On Steam; Here’s What You Need To Know
A new age of first-person shooters and esports has dawned upon us: the next Counter-Strike 2 is live.
Counter-Strike 2 is live right now and has replaced CS:GO as the de facto multiplayer PvP 5v5 shooter for Valve and Steam platform. Don’t feel too bad: CS:GO has been around for 10 years so it’s only a matter of time until the replacement was all set and done.
https://t.co/5RM9G9e4Od pic.twitter.com/8DwgjlPrv4
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) September 27, 2023
CS2 is basically Counter-Strike but in the Source 2 engine, featuring a huge number of changes including brighter maps, better smoke grenade effects that are practical in high-level matches, and a whole lot more. Here are the changes in part 2 that are worth noting:
- Upgraded lighting, materials, and mapmaking tools via the move to Source 2.
- “Overhauled” and “updated” maps, as well as relatively unchanged “touchstone” maps such as Dust 2.
- “All-new look and behaviour” for visual effects like fire, bullet tracers, and muzzle flashes (ah, the three elements).
- A new ranking system called CS Rating.
- “Reworked” audio.
- A new “tickless” server architecture.
The maps you can play right now include:
- Mirage
- Overpass
- Vertigo
- Ancient
- Inferno
- Nuke
- Anubis
- Dust 2*
- Office*
- Italy*
*not in competitive map pool at the moment.
As for all the content CS:GO players have bought throughout the 10 years? They’re still available and in CS2. The game is still free-to-play, so if you want to see what’s new, now’s a good time as any to play it now.
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