Valve insiders say a new Counter-Strike game is coming

[Cal Jeffrey]

Cutting corners: It's hard to say what Valve is better known for — creating the Half-Life franchise or never completing it. As you may recall, Half-Life 2: Episode Two ended on a major cliffhanger that would have been resolved in Episode Three had Valve not inexplicably abandoned it.

Valve's live service game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, commonly known as CS:GO is in a similar boat. The multiplayer FPS does not require an end. After all, it doesn't really have a story. However, it is a popular competitive shooter that still maintains a substantial number of users. Now it appears that maybe the game is getting a sequel, or at the least, a massive upgrade.

The rumors started simmering when the official CS:GO Twitter account changed its banner image about a week ago. It led to mild speculation on Reddit that Valve was preparing to rebrand the game or port it to the Source 2 engine or both. Then again, Twitter account changes are a weak indication that anything is indeed happening, so the bluster subsided quickly.

Then on March 1, data miners looking at the newest Nvidia drivers noticed the mention of two new files — csgos2.exe and cs2.exe (most likely placeholders). They were listed as part of a new game profile labeled "Counter-strike 2." The discovery whipped up the rumor mill again, with possibilities of a sequel game or, more likely, a port of the original game to Source 2, as indicated by the csgos2.exe file name.

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

Of course, Valve and developer Hidden Path Entertainment had nothing to say on the matter. However, the host of The Esports Gospel podcast, Richard Lewis, claims insiders with knowledge of the development told him that a new Counter-Strike game is in the works and is "almost ready" for a beta release between now and the first part of April. Allegedly, Valve already had a "secret group" of pro players flown to Seattle to test an early version recently.

The game has been on the development table for quite a while, which is why we have not seen much action with CS:GO expansion. According to the leakers, Valve put GO on the back burner while focusing on getting the newer title done.

"The big priority is getting this out and then polishing it, fixing any bugs, and bringing it up to the level people expect from CS," the insiders said. Don't you just love Valve's business plan of get it out first then fix it?

The leakers confirmed that the upcoming title has an improved matchmaking system and runs on faster 128-tick servers. However, they did not say whether it would be a standalone sequel or a straight port to Source 2. Either way, the game should have improved optimization and graphics compared to CS:GO, despite the 2014 game engine only being slightly newer.

One pressing question regarding releasing a new Counter-Strike is what will happen to the older version? With the still strong numbers playing CS:GO and the competitive esport element to consider, shifting to a radically newer version could be tricky. Lewis points out that historically, Valve has taken two paths in this regard.

One is to operate both versions side-by-side for a time as it did with the original Counter-Strike and CS:GO, essentially letting the games duke it out for players. The second option would be to take the approach of Dota 2 when devs ported it to Source 2, letting them run concurrently before finally merging players into the newer version.

Now for the obligatory, "don't forget to take your salt." Valve and Hidden Path are radio silent. Neither has announced anything officially, and you can never know how reliable interviews with anonymous sources are unless you are the one doing the interviewing. However, we must wait and find out since the beta is allegedly launching in as little as a few weeks.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/97834-valve-insiders-new-counter-strike-game-release-coming.html

 

[psycros]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

 

[letsgoiowa]

Some of the potential big improvements:
- Giant leap in anti-cheat
- Removal of ages of technical debt
- Superior rendering tech, like support for DLSS+FSR, PBR pipeline, etc
- Better networking performance
- Better multithreading and frametime stability
- Newer API: more compatible and widely supported than DX9

 

[Lounds]

CSGO needs this as newer hardware will eventually not support DX9 properly. I just wonder if they'll port the existing market over, it would be weird to get rid of the existing items.

 

[BigMeatyClackers]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

Sounds like those guys had some fun at your expense.

 

[yRaz]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

Everyone needs an outlet. Whenever I feel like crap I go and play Oblivion or ESO. It might be silly but it's better than smoking or drinking. Sometimes familiarity is comforting which is why I text my ex girlfriends or get in random arguments on the internet with strangers

 

[Lionvibez]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

why so serious

playing these games with friends can still be fun and a good way to release stress after work.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

quite philosophical today ? our purpose in life , why are we here ?
I not going to go on about french existentialism- I have only vague ideas what it means - but it sounds cool.

My take is apathy vs passion , boredom vs doing/curiosity

Yeah why does a speed runner try 20000 times to shave .01 seconds of
I'll leave this- simply because t's funny

https://imgur.com/YeOU1tL

 

[Nobina]

Right now this might be a bad move. CS:GO player count has skyrocketed for no apparent reason, game is doing very well and now they might release a game that will very likely piss off a lot of players and not switch.

This game is very sensitive to changes, especially when talking about the pro scene. People say they want Source 2 cause they always want something. In reality, it will have different physics, spray patterns, maps, maybe new items, will be harder to run on toasters, many things that will make people complain. Can't wait to see pro players lose their **** when they realise they are not as good on a new game compared to the others.

 

[KofeViR]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

I guess they like to play it, or they probably wouldnt Biggest game on steam by a huge margin

 

[MaXtor]

Right now this might be a bad move. CS:GO player count has skyrocketed for no apparent reason, game is doing very well and now they might release a game that will very likely piss off a lot of players and not switch.

This game is very sensitive to changes, especially when talking about the pro scene. People say they want Source 2 cause they always want something. In reality, it will have different physics, spray patterns, maps, maybe new items, will be harder to run on toasters, many things that will make people complain. Can't wait to see pro players lose their **** when they realise they are not as good on a new game compared to the others.

My understanding is that it will NOT be a new game. They're recreating the exact game through a new engine. Meaning, they will not release it until beta testers (presumably pro players) confirm it is 100% identical (physics, spray patterns, etc) to the current iteration. Anything else doesn't make sense.

CSGO is currently the most played game on Steam, they wouldn't risk splitting their player base with a new game, and they wouldn't risk pissing them off by changing it. What they want is to ensure the future viability of the current game by upgrading to their new engine so developers and the community can take advantage of the updated features and Source 2 tools.

We may see a graphical overhaul (reskinning of the maps), but beyond that I think it will just be an engine upgrade. There may be a transition period as we saw when DOTA2 upgraded to the Source 2 engine.

 

[MaXtor]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

It's a game that appears relatively simple but it has a huge skill ceiling. The repetitive nature allows you to make subtle adjustments to constantly improve your ability over time. With short rounds it allows you to respawn and play again with very little downtime, which is more forgiving to novice players (unlike many games today).

The majority of pro FPS players in every other game started in Counter Strike.

 

[Nobina]

My understanding is that it will NOT be a new game. They're recreating the exact game through a new engine. Meaning, they will not release it until beta testers (presumably pro players) confirm it is 100% identical (physics, spray patterns, etc) to the current iteration. Anything else doesn't make sense.

CSGO is currently the most played game on Steam, they wouldn't risk splitting their player base with a new game, and they wouldn't risk pissing them off by changing it. What they want is to ensure the future viability of the current game by upgrading to their new engine so developers and the community can take advantage of the updated features and Source 2 tools.

We may see a graphical overhaul (reskinning of the maps), but beyond that I think it will just be an engine upgrade. There may be a transition period as we saw when DOTA2 upgraded to the Source 2 engine.

That makes more sense even though a lot of people hope it's gonna be something new new.

It's a game that appears relatively simple but it has a huge skill ceiling. The repetitive nature allows you to make subtle adjustments to constantly improve your ability over time. With short rounds it allows you to respawn and play again with very little downtime, which is more forgiving to novice players (unlike many games today).

The majority of pro FPS players in every other game started in Counter Strike.

In football, you always play on the same pitch, that's repetitive, and it's the most popular sport in the world.

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

Fun game but the amount of hackers on there is unreal which take the fun out of it. Hopefully, they can address that.

 

[toooooot]

The most amazing about CS is that they make a next game and it becomes one of the most played shooters. Like, is there a recipe for making a top shooter not all game makers follow?

 

[Puiu]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

It's a very very good game. That's all you need to know to understand why.

 

[Tetr1s]

As a hardcore CS player with over 6k hours on my accounts combined, I feel like Valve won't remake a new game from scratch, but rather modify the existing game to run on the new engine.

Regarding skins valve wouldn't just make a new game with all the monetization in the current CS, it would make literally every skin worth nothing if they removed them and expected everyone to unbox new skins.

The new engine shouldn't change graphics for the game completely, it might make things look shinier but other than that there really shouldn't be that big of a difference.

Finally, the gameplay should be entirely the same, unmodified since it's just a different engine, CS already has 128tick servers on the community tab, so the same approach will most likely happen where valve just changes the mm servers from 64 to 128.

 

[Tetr1s]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

Average Valorant Player (The IQ level of this individual is on par with a deer in headlights).

 

[toooooot]

I'll never understand how people don't get utterly sick of games like this. I guess you've got an awful lot of guys who feel like they've achieved nothing in real life and really need the outlet.

I never understood how...
Games arent the only things to get addicted to. Drugs, Alcohol, gambling, food. Especially in USA, food I mean. Most people have a weakness for something be it something perfectly legal like cupcakes or something that gets you in prison.