Counter-Strike 2 announced

The team shooter is moving to the Source 2 engine this summer

Posted on Mar 22, 2023 - 2:56pm EST

Valve has announced Counter-Strike 2, said to be the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike's history, will launch in Summer 2023 on PC, and is available in Limited Testing to some CS:GO players beginning today.

CS2 is a free upgrade to CS:GO (which is already free to play), marking the start a new era of Counter-Strike on Valve's Source 2 engine.

CS2 promises upgraded and overhauled maps, dynamic smoke grenades, Tick-rate-independent gameplay, redesigned visual effects and audio, and more. All of your CS:GO items will carry forward to the new game; all stock weapons have been upgraded with high-resolution models, and some weapon finishes take advantage of these new models.

Players will be randomly selected for the beta test, based on their account standing on Steam and CS:GO recent play hours. Players will be invited via their CS:GO main menu if they are selected.

Counter-Strike made its debut as a modification for Half-Life in 2000. This was followed up by Counter-Strike: Source in 2004, and the current Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012.

Counter-Strike 2