Counter Strike 2 officially. Everything you need to know

22 Mar 2023 17:15

The new era of Counter-Strike begins this summer.

Counter-Strike 2 represents the biggest technological leap in the history of the series, enabling the development of new features and updates for the years to come.

All of the game’s new features will be revealed at its official launch this summer, but the road to Counter-Strike 2 begins today with limited testing for selected CS: GO players. During this time, a subset of features will be targeted to identify and fix issues prior to global release.

Counter-Strike 2 is coming this summer and will be a free update to CS: GO, so gear up, hone your skills, and get ready for what lies ahead! Read on to learn more about some of Counter-Strike 2’s Limited Test features.

Dynamic Smoke

Smoke grenades now create dynamic volumetric objects that interact with the environment and react to lighting, gunfire, and explosions. Smoke can now interact with other in-game events, opening up new gameplay possibilities. Bullets and grenades can scatter smoke to briefly clear a line of fire or reduce visibility.

It spreads out and fills the spaces in a natural way. From now on, smoke would come out through open doors and broken windows, rise up and down the stairs, and travel down long corridors and mix with smoke coming from another source.

It also reacts to light. In the Counter-Strike 2 engine, smoke particles interact with a unified lighting system, resulting in more realistic light and colors.

Tick Rate is a thing of the past

Server update rate (so-called tick rate) no longer matters when moving, shooting or throwing grenades. Until now, the server checked the state of the game world at separate intervals, or “ticks” of the server clock. Updates that take less than one such tick are at the heart of Counter-Strike 2, and thanks to this architecture, the servers know the exact moment when a move, a weapon fire or a grenade throw is initiated. This way, regardless of the update frequency, your movement and shooting will be equally smooth, and your grenades will always land in the same way.

Map changes

From improvements to complete rework, maps are now cleaner, brighter and better.

Completely redone

These maps have been fully rebuilt from the ground up with all new Source 2 engine rendering tools and features.

EXAMPLE MAP: OVERPASS

Improved

These are maps that use the new Source 2 engine lighting, including a physics-based rendering system that creates realistic materials, lighting and reflections.

EXAMPLE MAP: NUKE

Touchstone Maps

Classic maps with solid foundations that players can use to evaluate gameplay changes from CS:GO to Counter-Strike 2. These have improvements to lighting and character read, but otherwise haven’t been changed.

EXAMPLE MAP: DUST II

The Source 2 tools and rendering features will be available for community map makers to make it easier to build, experiment and iterate. And stay tuned for the Source 2 Item Workshop, which will be available later on in the limited test.

Your items in a whole new light

Bring your entire CS:GO inventory with you to Counter-Strike 2. Not only will you keep every item you’ve collected over the years, but they’ll all benefit from Source 2 lighting and materials.

In addition to supporting legacy models and finishes, all stock weapons have been upgraded with high-resolution models, and some weapon finishes take advantage of these new models.

HI-DEF VFX

From UI to gameplay, all visual effects have been reimagined.

All of the visual effects have been updated in Counter-Strike 2. With Source 2 lighting and particle systems, there’s an all-new look and behavior for water, explosions, fire, smoke, muzzle flashes, bullet tracers, impact effects, and more.

Gameplay Visuals

In Counter-Strike 2 the most critical gameplay visuals have been redesigned with readability in mind. Bullet impacts can be easily viewed at a distance, and directional blood impacts (that fade over time) give you more information as you move through the world.

Environment Effects

Experience completely reauthored explosions, fire, C4 lighting, and more. Leveraging the Source 2 Engine and modern hardware, environmental effects in Counter-Strike 2 feature improved visual fidelity and greater consistency.

UI Enhancements

The UI in Counter-Strike 2 has gotten a complete overhaul, including fresh visual effects throughout the HUD. Not only do these improvements look nice, they also communicate important game state.

Accurate audio

Reworked, Rebalanced, Reverbed

Counter-Strike 2 sounds have been reworked to better reflect the physical environment, be more distinct, and express more game state. They have also been rebalanced for a more comfortable listening experience.

There’s more to come

The Limited Test only evaluates a subset of Counter-Strike 2’s features, so that major issues can be resolved before the summer. But there’s much more to come. In just a few months we’ll reveal all of the details of Counter-Strike 2, and we can’t wait to share it with you.