Valve revealed on Wednesday that Counter-Strike 2 will be released this summer. Promising an “overhaul to every system, every piece of content, and every part of the [Counter-Strike] experience.” The announcement comes with three videos of Counter-Strike 2 in action, showing off newly updated maps, dynamic smoke grenades, and “sub-tick updates,” which Valve says offers even more precise server updates.
Starting today, a restricted trial version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is available for specific players. Additionally, Valve has released an FAQ outlining the particulars of the limited test for CS2 and the procedure to participate.
Valve’s Source 2 engine will power the latest iteration of Counter-Strike. Valve calls it “the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history,” As a result, the classic maps of Counter-Strike, which have been the battleground for players for over two decades, will receive a visual upgrade. Those maps will be “cleaner, brighter and better,” Valve says, thanks to “upgrades and overhauls which leverage all of the new Source 2 tools and rendering features.”
“Previously, the server only evaluated the world in discrete time intervals (called ticks),” Valve explained. “Thanks to Counter-Strike 2’s sub-tick update architecture, servers know the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a ‘nade is thrown.”
“As a result, regardless of tick rate, your moving and shooting will be equally responsive and your grenades will always land the same way.”
Valve’s first-person shooter franchise will see its fourth major release with Counter-Strike 2. The series began in 2000 as a mod for Valve’s Half-Life, and the original game was followed by Counter-Strike: Source in 2004 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012. Even a decade after its debut, CS:GO continues to be immensely popular, and as a free-to-play game, it often tops the list of most-played games on Steam. This month, CS:GO reached a record-breaking 1.4 million concurrent players on Steam.
Read more FAQs on Steam to know more about Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test.
