Counter-Strike 2 News

Counter-Strike 2 releases on Steam, but can it beat CS:GO's all-time peak?

Just in case the initial tease, and subsequent Twitter account banner change didn't give you enough of a hint, Counter-Strike 2 has indeed arrived on Wednesday, September 27.

As was always the plan, the game replaced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam. In fact, the Steam store page retains pretty much everything from the original CS:GO page - reviews, details, release date etc., except it now carries the new name.

This is why it's hard to judge Counter-Strike 2's popularity compared to CS:GO, but what's immediately clear is that regardless of what it's called, Counter-Strike is the most played game on Steam. At the time of this writing, the game has 1,192,773 concurrent players online.

Counter-Strike 2 released last night and has duly taken over from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as Steam’s most-played game at the time of writing, but individual player reactions are a bit mixed. Valve’s new/revamped free-to-play FPS sports a range of exotic features and fixtures, from swirlier, reactive smoke to new server architecture, but it has launched without many of the modes, maps and functions Global Offensive diehards are accustomed to, after a decade of updates.

Release Notes for 9/27/2023 Night

[ SOUND ]

Weapon sounds will no longer sound like they come from the spot you are zoomed into

[ WATER ]

Updated water in Nuke to fix an issue with smoke
Reduced maximum amount of water refraction since it was looking too noisy/distracting

[ MISC ]

Fixed a case where the death panel wouldn't show
Fixed a case where the preview crosshair wouldn't show in game settings
Fixed a case where debug text would appear on the crosshair

CS2 has more players than the next top nine Steam games combined

Counter-Strike 2 is finally here, which means both long-time fans and newcomers to Valve's iconic shooter are already hopping in-game to play through the updated maps. CS2 arrived as a free update to Counter-Strike Global Offensive, replacing the latter in the process. Now that CSGO is officially dead and Counter-Strike 2 has taken over, an uptick in fans can be seen on Steam's charts. CS2 has a whopping amount of players after just one hour, sitting with more than the next top nine Steam games combined.

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Welcome Home

Counter-Strike 2 is here.

Come take a look around. Counter-Strike 2 is the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike's history, supporting new features today and updates for years to come.

If you're a returning player you'll find your favorite maps and matchmaking modes right where you left them, along with a revamped Premier mode where you can establish your all-new CS Rating. Rise through the ranks and see where you stand on global and regional leaderboards.

For new players, learn the basics with some offline training and jump into Casual and Deathmatch to hone your skills. Once you've unlocked Competitive matchmaking you'll be off to the races.

Grab your friends, and come join millions of players around the world. Welcome to Counter-Strike 2.