Counter 81b26 Strike 2 Revealed by Valve, Releasing This Summer

The game will run on the Source 2 engine, with limited testing now open to select players. 3r565w

Written by Rahul Chettiyar, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 23 March 2023 11:25 IST

Counter-Strike 2 Revealed by Valve, Releasing This Summer

Photo Credit: Valve 1qfh

In Counter-Strike 2, a smoke cloud's shape reacts to gunfire and highly explosive grenades

Highlights

Select players will be notified of the limited test on CS:GO’s main menu
Classic maps in CS2 have been rebuilt from scratch, with better assets
Counter-Strike 2 relies on a sub-tick architecture update

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Counter-Strike 2 is officially a thing, and it is slated for release this summer (American). Running on the Source 2 engine, which also served as a foundation for the acclaimed Half-Life: Alyx, the game will be available as a free the existing Counter-Strike's history,” the game includes several visual and technical upgrades, with the promise of more to come. The news comes after a leak from earlier this month, where a recent Nvidia driver update added for ‘cs2.exe' and ‘csgo2.exe.'

In a Source 2 lighting, which includes a “physically based rendering system.” The oldest maps have been fully rebuilt from scratch to feature new assets and physics changes, giving a fresh aesthetic to a beloved game, by making use of the Source 2 tools. The tools will be available to community map makers as well, letting them build and experiment with details as tiny as textures or lighting colours.

Counter-Strike is known for its pinpoint, precise gunplay, evaluating movement and shooting in specific time intervals or ticks. On Counter-Strike 2, however, introduces a new sub-tick architecture that Valve claims to negate the purpose/ value of a tick rate. “Now, the tick rate no longer matters for moving and shooting, so the server will know the exact moment you fired your shot, jumped your jump, or peeked your peek,” the narrator in the video describes. “... the server will calculate your precise actions between ticks. So what you see is what you get.”

Smokes are getting upgraded too, starting by creating volumetric 3D fogs that interact with the environment and any physical obstructions. Instead of just forming a static cloud of smoke, as we're used to from CS:GO, it now grows to fill spaces naturally, accommodating entire vents and tight spaces, and sometimes seeping through broken windows. The smoke cloud's shape can also be manipulated via gunfire and highly explosive grenades, with its impact clearing out the smoke, as it would realistically. Not only will your entire CS:GO inventory — weapon skins and stickers — be brought over to Counter-Strike 2, but they will benefit from Source 2 engine's lighting and high-resolution model upgrades. There's more gore, better ragdoll effects when dead opponents flop over, and enhancements to the UI.

How to gain access to Counter-Strike 2 limited test 1d374h

As per CS:GO and select the ‘Limited Test' option to play the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test,” the post adds. Valve claims that more players will be added to the limited test over time and that it's a good idea to keep a check on your main menu occasionally. There is no third-party website to gain access to CS2's limited test, nor are there any beta testing keys to redeem.

Both CS:GO and CS2 will be accessible to the chosen few, but they can only play with and against players on the same version. So, Counter-Strike 2 players will only get matched with other CS2 players, and vice versa. Any XP earned in the limited test will be carried over to CS:GO, while competitive cooldowns are shared across both versions. While this goes without saying, Valve also reiterated that “s with VAC or game bans in CS:GO cannot play Counter-Strike 2 on VAC-secured servers.”

Counter-Strike 2 releases this summer on PC. That's American summer (June-August), mind you, not Indian.

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