Counter-Strike players are currently pinching themselves just in case this is a dream. According to some anonymous sources, the long awaited Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update running on the Source 2 engine is coming. And it’s coming sooner than anyone would have guessed. The users of the internet are no strangers to rumors popping up and gaining popularity only to have the rumor be proven false. Sometimes this takes years and the rumor quickly becomes a meme. What’s not so common is the rumor meme circling back to reality. While that may not be 100% proven yet, it’s certainly looking possible.
The rumor came back to the surface when the CS:GO Twitter page changed its banner. This has happened several times that led to nothing but it always gets some attention. What really kicked things up was a Tweet from @gabefollower that showed Nvidia drivers had added support for the executables “csgos2.exe” and “cs2.exe.” This was very intriguing but there was no more follow up to this until journalist Richard Lewis posted on his substack page to confirm these rumors.
Anonymous sources reached out to him to confirm that not only is the Source 2 version of Counter-Strike real, but a beta should be launching in March or by April 1st at the latest. They also confirmed that the name would likely be “Counter-Strike 2.” It is mind-blowing for a rumor like this to not only have sources confirming it, but to drop that it’s only weeks away from being released in some way. While a beta may not be a full release, there will be plenty of players ready to jump in and help beta test this new version of a favorite game.
To go with a new engine, the sources confirmed that the game will include some updated features to put it in line with newer tactical shooter games like VALORANT including major improvements to matchmaking. The CS:GO community and esports scenes have been and continue to be huge even with more technically competitive games being made available since CS:GO’s release. It’s hard to imagine just how huge it could be with a newer, more technically advanced version backed by the known quality and support that Valve provides. Counter-Strike is on the rise once again.
Image from: Valve/Dexerto
