Counter-Strike 2 is Now Officially Out

Valve's Counter-Strike 2 is now officially available, replacing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Describing it as "the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike's history, ensuring new features and updates for years to come." Announced back in March, Counter-Strike 2 brings plenty of new features, updated maps, and more.

In a blog post announcing the availability, Valve says that returning players will find their favorite maps and matchmaking modes, as well as a revamped Premier mode for the new CS Rating. The biggest update is the sub-tick architecture, promising that the server will now know "the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a 'nade is thrown." Valve also released the new patch, launching the game and bringing some fixes and new features and modes that were previously unavailable.

Counter-Strike 2 already has very positive reviews over at Steam, and it is already at the top of the "top seller" list, leaving behind Cyberpunk 2077, Dota 2, and PUBG: Battlegrounds. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive managed to hit a peak of 1,8 million concurrent players in April, so it remains to be seen if Counter-Strike 2 will be able to break that record.

Here are the full release notes for the latest patch.

COUNTER-STRIKE 2

Counter-Strike 2 is now available and free to play
Season One of Premier has begun

GAMEPLAY

Enabled Competitive matchmaking
Enabled Wingman matchmaking
Enabled Private Matchmaking
Added Training Day, a brief introductory experience for brand new players
Improved player-against-player movement collision
Improved consistency of bullet penetration
Player reflections in water are now occluded by smoke
Molotov fire now floats above the water
Fixed character ambient occlusion being visible through walls
C4 bomb lights don't reflect through walls
Fixed some rare cases of viewmodel lighting corruption
Adjusted smoke behavior to cover cases where smoke would stop less than a player's height above the ground
Fix various bugs with switching teams in the middle of offline Deathmatch
Fixed Famas reloading too early
Chickens can finally fall off Vertigo

SOUND

Added the new CS2 default music kit
Added new audio customization settings
Various mix tweaks and adjustments
Various bug fixes related to music kits
Updated the game startup sound
Added background ambience to main menu scenes
Restored the clutch_mode_toggle function
Fixed a bug where sometimes c4 defuse and planting sounds could not be heard in certain locations
Fixed some surfaces being incorrectly tagged causing incorrect footstep sounds in certain locations
Fixed a bug where attackers could not hear headshot feedback through wallbangs or smokes
Body damage feedback for attackers will now play within the same distance as it does for onlookers through smokes and wallbangs
Fixed a bug where scoping in affected directional sound
First person damage sounds are now more impactful
Removed several legacy audio convars that existed in CS:GO but never had an effect in CS2

ANIMATION

Adjusted character additive lean animation
Adjusted jump animation, particularly when repeatedly jumping
Adjusted jiggle-peeking animation
Adjusted animated character head position relative to camera position
Added bullet belt to negev
Reduced foot sliding when carrying slower weapons
Fixed character momentarily standing during crouch-planting animation
Fixed incorrect viewmodel deploy speeds
Fixed pops in some weapon inspect animations
Inspecting weapons may now interrupt deploy animation

MATCHMAKING

When one or more party members get convicted of cheating and permanently banned, all their associates will be penalized with loss of Profile Rank and CS Rating
In Premier, players with a very high established CS Rating are not allowed to party with accounts that do not have an established CS Rating

MAPS

Various bug fixes and tweaks for all shipped maps
Adjusted vertical audio occlusion boundaries in Nuke and Vertigo
Added an extra bell in Inferno
Casual and Deathmatch maps are now separated into multiple map groups

MISC

CS:GO Players who started playing more than a week ago will receive a commemorative CS:GO coin and CS:GO Music Kit
Added Store tab to main menu
Enabled all interactions with inventory items
Replaced weekly drops with a weekly Care Package. Choose from weapon cases, weapon finishes, and graffiti
Added demo playback support
Added the ability to favorite and shuffle loadout items
Added new item icons
Office and Vertigo are available as main menu scenery
Various updates for weapon finishes, including fixing overly strong wear on several Custom Paint Job finishes
Reworked Phoenix Street Soldier balaclava texture to resolve visibility issues
Enabled animated eyes on agent character models

WORKSHOP TOOLS

Game clients running in workshop tools mode are not allowed to connect to VAC secure game servers
Added an all-new help system featuring contextually relevant guides and information. Guides include gray scale value ranges for alpha channel masking, paint-by-number mask color assignments based on current finish type, and much more!
Removed dynamic props from solid color inspect backgrounds

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 26/03/2024 14:02:31

I remember spending countless hours on Global Offensive, so hearing about this huge leap forward has me itching to jump back in. The sub-tick architecture sounds like a game-changer, especially for those intense moments where split-second decisions can make or break a round.

Speaking of gaming experiences, I remember this one time I was stuck on a particularly tough level in another game. I stumbled upon boosteria.org and found some seriously helpful tips that got me through it. It's amazing how a little guidance can completely change the game, pun intended! So, if anyone's looking to up their CS2 skills or tackle those tough matches, definitely give them a look.

It's fantastic news that Counter-Strike 2 is now available for free! With the immense popularity of shooters as a gaming genre, this release is sure to attract a huge player base. One of the aspects that makes Counter-Strike games so enduring is the community-driven aspect, especially with the customization options like skins. Thanks to the source allure of unique skins adds a layer of personalization and excitement to the gameplay experience, fostering creativity and individual expression within the game. I'm eager to dive into this new iteration and see how it evolves within the gaming community!