The Long-Awaited CS2 Became Available + New Details
CS2 finally went on its own road outside beta testing, replacing CS:GO. Forever? It seems like YES, but CS:GO is still available for playing, although it’s hard to predict how long the opportunity will be.
The story of CS2 began in 2015 when Valve presented a new Source 2 game engine. The port of Dota 2 to it from the older Source engine only facilitated discussions, but CS:GO was using the older coding approach until 2023. The arrival of VALORANT and other games that gained their place in the Professional competitive field forced Valve to make crucial changes outside rare updates.
The History of the CS 2 Launch
Traditionally for Valve, CS 2 became available for the community's eyes thanks to a Twitter post on March 22, 2023.
A few additional short videos explained the basic changes in the new game, which became available for the limited amount of players chosen directly by Valve. Even the Pros, like Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, were forced to ask for access additionally.
Firstly, there was only a Dust 2 map in the new Counter-Strike, and Valve was smoothly widening the map pool and amount of players for Beta tests. While the community expected to see the game in the summer of 2023, the Twitter post on September 1 was once again pretty confusing. Thus, all players who were active in CS:GO got access to the new version, but it wasn’t officially released, although CS2 launched on millions of PCs in Beta mode.
The last step was made on September 27th, right during the playoffs of the ESL Pro League Season 18. CS:GO was shut down for a few hours, servers weren’t responding, while automatic Steam updates replaced the older game files with CS2. Interestingly, Pros were forced to finish the Pro League playing day on local servers without their favorite CS skins.
Nonetheless, CS 2 launched for everyone on the 27th of September, which will be the birthday of the new game. The renewed game is now available for free for everyone with a valid Steam account, while CS:GO owners should only wait for automatic updates to launch the game from the same desktop icon.
What New Details Have We Learned?
Counter-Strike 2 has launched, yet the game is far from being polished and working smoothly. With the overall PC requirements not looking terrifying, the older rigs that could cope with CS:GO on the stable 100+ FPS level now will be struggling with CS2. Valve states the following hardware as the minimum:
Attentive readers can also find from the screenshot above that CS2 cannot work on MacBooks as there is no support for MacOS. Valve didn’t comment on the situation and told no dates for potential release for Apple-made computers, so the latter should use cloud gaming services that are compatible with Macs.
With every Counter-Strike fan now aiming to get a rank in Premier mode and on every matchmaking map separately, the game is under a real stress test. Unsurprisingly, Valve was forced to deliver updates almost on a daily basis after the official release, and it makes no sense to mention all the bug fixes.
For a full understanding of what waits for players in the new Counter-Strike version compared with the previous one, read our dedicated CS:GO vs. CS2: Global Update guide.
Is CS:GO Not Available Anymore?
While many think CS:GO has disappeared and CS2 can be installed only in its latest revision, it’s not fully true. Everyone can still play the previous Counter-Strike version and even have their in-game skins:
Open Steam, go to Library, find Counter-Strike 2, right-click on it, and open Properties.
Open the Betas tab on the left, and go to Beta Participation options, choosing ‘csgo_demo_viewer - [numbers].’
After choosing it, Steam will download a 12.55 GB update.
When all files are downloaded, click the green PLAY button, which will offer you two game versions to launch. Of course, choose ‘Play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Demo Viewer, 2023).’
The older game version will launch, with all your skin inventory being available in the game. With the requirement to Update Your Steam Client, you won’t be able to play competitive Official matchmaking, but all other playing options are still available:
- Practice With Bots
- Training Course
- Workshop Maps
- Community Server Browser
To connect to the community server you know is available now, you'll have to open the Console and type connect [ServerIP]. So, to have a traditional 5x5 mode, you have to make a few extra steps and gather the party on your own or use the FACEIT platform with all the related stuff.
Many believe this option will be valid only until the last official CS:GO tournaments finish to simplify the life for organizers. After ESL announced IEM Sydney 2023 to be played in CS2 (starting on October 14), no doubt all others will transition to the new game pretty fast.
Although Valve can block CS:GO anytime, they can also leave it as it is because all the CS:GO servers are now used for CS2, and no extra maintenance is needed to support Global Offensive. At the same time, players who have older gaming rigs or cannot upgrade them now, are distracted by the smallest bugs, or aren’t ready for transition can still play their favorite game. All in all, a lot of Counter-Strike lovers still play CS 1.6.
FAQ
The release date for CS2 was September 27, 2023.
There is no need for extra downloads if you played CS:GO on your PC. You should only wait for Steam to update the needed files, and CS2 can be launched even with your old desktop icon.
