Is Counter Strike 2 release date coming next week, or is Valve trolling us?
Counter Strike 2 may be in our hands very soon - at least for those of us who never played the closed beta.
Valve looks to be teasing the imminent release of Counter-Strike 2, if we're reading this cheeky Tweet correctly. The game has been in limited, closed beta testing since March, when it was initially announced.
Valve always said that Counter-Strike 2 would be available for everyone sometime in the summer, so there's only really one way to interpret this Tweet from the official Counter-Strike account.
"What are you doing next Wednesday?" it asks, referring to September 27. That would technically put it outside of the summer season, since that ends September 23. But we don't need to be literal here.
Assuming this isn't some sort of public beta test or another step towards launch, it's safe to assume the big day is indeed Wednesday, September 27. Counter-Strike 2 is a free upgrade to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Outside of bringing the classic competitive shooter to Valve's most up-to-date Source 2 engine, Counter-Strike 2 also introduces major new mechanics, changing to the ranking system, overhauls audio and more. The big one is, of course, reactive smoke, which allows it to react to the environment and not clip through objects.
The new smoke clouds are malleable enough to fill gaps, and players can carve through them by simply shooting through. The upgrades also carry over to the maps - some of which are getting remade, while others remastered.
Obviously, a numbered sequel to one of Steam's most consistently played games ever is a big deal. As old as it is, CS:GO never stopped growing, and with CS2 being a free upgrade (and with all skins carrying over), there's every reason to believe the series is about to get another boost in popularity.
It's also going to be interesting to see how much of the Valorant audience moves over to Counter-Strike 2, be they Twitch streamers or general players.