It’s happening.
After weeks of leaks, speculations over a possible upgrade to Source 2 and some teasing on the CS:GO Twitter account, Valve have finally announced “the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history.”
Counter-Strike 2 will come in the Summer of 2023 as a free upgrade CS:GO and will include a revolutionary change to smoke grenades, completely overhauled maps and changes to the tick rates, along with a plethora of UI and visual effects updates.
CS 2 Smoke Grenades
Smoke grenades in Counter-Strike 2 are dynamic volumetric objects that interact with the environment. Smoke particles are interacting with the lighting, which results in a more realistic feel, but it also interacts with other objects and the environment and will sweep out of opened doors or broken windows, or can go down the stairs and expand on corridors.
CS 2 Tick Rates
With Counter-Strike 2 tick rates don’t matter anymore. Valve went beyond those and implemented sub-tick updates.
Thanks to Counter-Strike 2’s sub-tick update architecture, servers know the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a ‘nade is thrown.
As a result, regardless of tick rate, your moving and shooting will be equally responsive and your grenades will always land the same way.
CS 2 Maps
There are three tiers of upgrades when it comes down to maps in Counter-Strike 2. The oldest maps have been rebuilt from the ground up in Source 2 in an overhaul effort. The classic maps received improvements to lighting and character read, while touchstone maps now use Source 2 lighting and rendering.
CS 2 Limited Test
CS2 becomes available beginning today, Match 22 for a Limited Test to the most dedicated and loyal players. According to the limited test F.A.Q. “players are selected based on a number of factors deemed important by the Counter-Strike 2 development team, including (but not limited to) recent playtime on Valve official servers, trust factor, and Steam account standing.”
Initially, the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test will offer Deathmatch and Unranked Competitive matchmaking on Dust2. Future limited test releases will offer other game modes, maps, and features, according to Valve.
The updates revealed today are just some of the changes that the game received with the arrival of Counter-Strike 2. According to Valve, all of the details will come in just a few months!
