Thoughts on the new CS2 Ratings System

Counter-Strike is a huge esport these days and Valve wants to make it a lot more appealing for those who enjoy competing and making a name for themselves. One key component of any competitive scene is transparency.

We saw what happened in Dota 2 when the Dota Pro Circuit was introduced. All of a sudden, people knew why certain teams got invited to tournaments and others didn’t. But Dota had a transparent ranking system for players long before that. In Counter-Strike, on the other hand, people used to only know their rank division.

Given the number of people who play the game (around 20 million), saying that you’re a Global Elite is not very useful when trying to convince an esports organization or a sponsor to give you an opportunity. What needed to happen is so obvious that it’s quite shocking that Valve only did it now.

Counter-Strike needed an MMR or Elo based system with individual leaderboards. That way, you’ll know whether you’re one of the very best or just decent.

In Dota 2, there are thousands of players whose rank is visibly displayed. These are the highest-rated players on a given server and everyone can see that they’re the best. This makes the problem of evaluating competence much easier.

Today we are introducing CS Rating—a precise display of your skill in Counter-Strike 2. With regional and World Leaderboards you’ll know exactly how you stack up.

Competitive mode in CS2 now features per-map Skill Groups, so players can master their favorite maps while learning… pic.twitter.com/LexHHv8P36

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) August 31, 2023

What’s great about the new CS2 ratings system

From what has been announced, Valve wants to make the new system not just transparent, but also extremely functional. And part of that has to do with making ranks particular to each map.

In Counter-Strike, map knowledge plays a huge role in determining how well a player will perform on a given map. It doesn’t matter how good your aim is if you don’t understand setups, angles, and everything else that’s specific to the particular map you are competing on.

Given this fact, it makes perfect sense for ranks to be map-specific and not just general. You might be a Global Elite on Mirage but only a Legendary Eagle Master on Inferno. So it makes perfect sense to be required to play against Global Elites on Mirage and LEMs on Inferno.

Without this distinction, you might be tempted to only play on the few maps that you know best, especially after you’ve reached a high rank. The thought that you might lose it will discourage you from playing on your weakest maps. But if you have different ranks on each one, that makes it easier.

Header: Valve