Counter-Strike 2 News

This CS:GO fan map adds Rainbow Six Siege-like destruction to Inferno

Destruction - that is, the ability to breach walls and other surfaces - is a key feature of Rainbow Six Siege gameplay. Deploying explosive charges or certain gadgets in just the right spot can open up all kinds of new opportunities to get one over on your opposition. Now, you can bring an element of these kinds of tactics to another of the best FPS games around, thanks to a new fan-made Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map.

Lion Doge's 'Destructible Inferno' CS:GO custom map does exactly what its name implies - it folds a whole layer of destructibility into CS:GO's European town bomb defusal map, meaning many of its elements can be breached or even come crashing down. In the Inferno spin-off, the creator explains, you'll be able to see a load of different kinds of map destruction, "from small falling pots to falling towers", with the effects depending entirely on you, the player ("and sometimes chickens").

"The terrorists will have breaching charges at their disposal to break through walls," Lion Doge says, "so keep an eye out! Using fragile barrels and boxes as your cover might not be a great idea."

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Vitality benches CS:GO player Nivera, reverts back to five-man roster

Team Vitality made waves in the second half of 2020 by becoming the first team to make a mid-series substitution in a major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition. The French organisation has been championing a six-man roster since, freely rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

However, early in 2021, Valve ruled that teams who substituted players during official Regional Major Ranking competitions would face punishment. While third-parties like BLAST have continued to let Vitality rotate its team, it has now decided to drop its resident sixth man, Nabil 'Nivera' Benrlitom, as it gears up for a number of competitions offering RMR points.

In a statement, Vitality thanks Nivera for being part of its "ambitious" six-man team and for helping it secure two big titles at the tail end of 2020. It also states that it is "firmly convinced" six-man rosters are the best way to help grow the competitive CS:GO scene, but has been forced to drop Nivera because of Valve's decision.

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CS:GO disappeared from Steam for a few incredible, terrible hours

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is usually the most popular game on Steam. For a few bizarre hours last night, it was no longer available on Steam. CS:GO, and a seemingly random assortment of other Steam titles briefly disappeared from the store, and nobody seems to know why. Valve has acknowledged that it happened, but hasn't provided any details on why.

At around midnight in the US on March 9, CS:GO was removed from the Steam store. A couple of games like, er, Paws and Claws: Pet Vet and Section 8: Prejudice were removed at the same time, as were DLC packs for everything from Fallout: New Vegas to Black Desert Online. A handful of movies and shows were removed as well, including Mad Max, Clerks, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Truly a dark time for our culture.

As you can see on SteamDB, every title disappeared at once, and then they were all restored a little over two hours later. There was no apparent drop-off in CS:GO players during that period, so it looks like this just affected the store page - not the game itself.

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Valve unveils controversial new VR mode for CS:GO

Valve's bold choice to release a new Half-Life game as a VR exclusive was divisive. However, the Half-Life: Alyx reviews are in and the studio has done a stellar job of innovating and building on a beloved series, demonstrating that the medium can deliver a fully fledged gaming experience. Now it turns out that after development on Alyx concluded, the VR devs all wheeled their desks en masse towards the CS:GO offices, and refused to move until they were let in - so now, along with those Half-Life: Alyx launch goodies, we're getting a VR mode in CS:GO, too.

"We're moving CS:GO over to the Source 2 engine - the same engine Half-Life: Alyx uses." explained Valve developer Robin Walker. "This basically means VR is super easy to implement. It's practically already done. We expect to be releasing the CS:GO VR mode in about eight or nine years."

Valve has already identified potential pitfalls with the new format, Walker explains. "One of the challenges we faced when developing CS:GO VR was the movement. When I first loaded into Dust 2 in VR I instinctively tried to crabwalk, fell over and hit my head on a large orange box. A lot of our creative decisions from that point onward can be traced back to that moment."

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G2 Esports drops kennyS from its active CS:GO roster

G2 Esports's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team has made the decision to allow Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub to "explore new opportunities." The news follows a slew underwhelming results for the team over the last several months, with the player himself struggling to find form. The announcement came via the team's official Twitter account.

The team's coach, Damien 'maLeK' Marcel refers to kennyS as "a pillar within G2 and a legend in the scene," and notes the "incredible moments and memories" they have shared together. However, maLeK feels that a new team is necessary for kennyS to remain at the top of the game, as the team looks to shift its approach to it going forward.

This sentiment is shared by head of esports Danny Engels, who says that, if the player finds "a team that can cater to him in full, he will undoubtedly carry that team to the top of CS:GO, as he has done time and time again at G2."

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