It’s happening: Counter-Strike 2 coming in summer of 2023

The wait is over! Finally, all the rumors regarding Counter-Strike 2 have been confirmed.

Valve, through a video on its YouTube channel and different publications on its official Twitter account, has published all the details regarding the new game based on the Source 2 engine, Counter-Strike 2.

Valve announces Counter-Strike 2

Amid many rumors for several weeks now, and above all, amid the exciting ESL Pro League Season 17 matches, Valve has taken the beautiful trouble to announce the long-awaited CS2.

According to the announcement on Valve’s official shooter blog, the new Counter-Strike 2 will be released worldwide in the summer of 2023. In addition, they also point out that all the features we will have available will be released in due course. However, today begins a test that can be played only by some CS:GO players to evaluate the problems that arise before its worldwide release.

Finally, it is also detailed that Counter-Strike 2 will arrive in the summer as a free CS:GO update, meaning the beloved shooter has numbered its hours.

All-new smokes

What has attracted the most attention within the little that has been revealed is the spectacular update that there will be with the smokes. According to the official blog, these are “interactive smokes.” From now on, we can consider a smoke grenade a dynamic object interacting with the environment. In other words, bullets, lighting, characters and explosions will influence the smoke, making the game more realistic.

As we can see in the video, the smoke now interacts with the bullets and grenades, which causes the smoke’s sight lines to shift. But, on the other hand, we can also observe that the smoke expands more and more to fill spaces naturally; that is, it will not be in a predetermined way as it had been in CS:GO.

Improved tick rate

The tick rate will not affect the games regardless of the tics on the server. This means that moves, shots, and grenades thrown will always fall in the same way. Finally, we will no longer have to learn the smokes in 128 and 64 ticks. On the other hand, we can highlight that the bullets will also be much more precise, making the MM system much more competitive.

New map lighting

The lighting and some parts of the classic maps have been modified by the new rendering system that has Source 2. This system is completely based on the physics that produces the materials and lighting, which gives us reflections and much more realistic images.

Source 2 editing tool

On the other hand, there will also be a new editing tool in Source 2, which will be available to all those map creators in the community. This will undoubtedly facilitate the creation of maps. In addition, this tool will be available in the Workshop in the future.

What will happen to my skins?

The big doubt of many in the community has finally been solved. All your skins in your inventory will be automatically adapted and transferred to Counter-Strike 2. In addition, all skins will look much better thanks to the new lighting and materials that Source 2 brings.

New visual effects

All visual effects have been improved with the new lighting system in Source 2. Water, fire, grenade explosions, bullets, and blood have all been improved to create a more realistic look and feel of the game we love, which we all dreamed of having in our beloved CS:GO!

In addition to the visual effects, the sound of the game will also be updated. All to allow players to identify everything more accurately. In addition, many sounds have been balanced to give players a much more comfortable experience.

Who will be able to test Counter-Strike 2?

We are all asking ourselves this question, and Counter-Strike’s Twitter account has answered it. According to the post, the players that will be selected will be through some factors important to the developers, such as:

• Recent play time on official CS:GO servers.
• Player trust factor
• Steam account status

Header: Valve