Counter-Strike 2 May Finally Be Just Around The Corner
When it comes to competitive first-person shooter shooters, "Counter-Strike Global Offensive" is king. And right now, it's more popular than ever. Ever since the game debuted in 2012, its player count has only grown, although some of these players might have spent their time opening up crates rather than actually playing the game.
Despite its steady rise in player count, little has changed with "CS: GO" since it debuted in 2012. And this has notably allowed time for others in the industry to catch up. For example, Riot Games' "Valorant" has been giving "CS: GO" a run for its money by providing players a welcome twist to the "Counter-Strike" formula, in addition to featuring better servers and more inclusivity. But it appears that Valve is not letting Riot's shooter pass them by, as it was recently revealed that the company might be working on a "CS: GO 2." And it may be just around the corner.
CS: GO 2 might launch later this month
The "Counter-Strike" community was recently shaken when it was discovered that "Counter-strike 2" was added to the NVIDIA control panel as a game profile earlier this month. This led to massive speculation from the community about a possible sequel to the game. Richard Lewis, a longtime "Counter-Strike" community member, backed up this speculation via an alleged insider source. After speaking with an anonymous source at Valve, Lewis wrote that "the new version is almost certainly set to be released under the working title Counter-Strike 2" and that a beta would begin sometime this month or in early April.
Something weird just happened. Latest NVIDIA drivers introduced support for unknown app executables called "csgos2.exe" and "cs2.exe". Why project is called Counter-Strike 2 and what are you cooking @csgo? https://t.co/U9YKlAjwgy pic.twitter.com/PU8Op9uGLq
— ‎Gabe Follower 2 (@gabefollower) March 1, 2023
Lewis also discussed some of the improvements his sources revealed are coming to the game. He wrote that the game would be implementing a 128-tick server to compete with "Valorant," in addition to improved matchmaking. And that the game would be moving over to the Source 2 engine, giving the community access to better content-creation tools. As longtime players will know, "CS: GO" is still on Valve's eighteen-year-old Source game engine. However, this doesn't mean "CS: GO 2" will be a full-on sequel.
Some argue that this won't change much and that the reports are misleading. Many believe Valve's plan is to make "CS: GO" run and feel like a newer game. Still, news that the game will be getting improved servers and matchmaking is sure to delight any "Counter-Strike" fan.