Farewell, CSGO: The CS2 Mess That Changed Everything

Counter-Strike has held a legendary status in the world of FPS, gaming, and E-Sports, hailed as one of the best, if not the best, tactical first-person shooters out there. Not only is it a fun game, but it’s also given us thrilling moments, loaded with adrenaline over the decades. After the paramount success of 1.6, Global Offensive aka CSGO took Valve’s iconic title to hitherto unforeseen heights. 

Countless players have expressed how they felt about Counter-Strike, mainly Global Offensive, stating that they can consistently play it and enjoy the time spent due to the game’s level of excellence. It’s no secret and CSGO really did check most, if not all, of the boxes to provide a premium competitive shooter experience that adamantly stood the test of time.

On top of that, Counter-Strike is extremely accessible and allows players of any level to step into its world, improve their skills, and become someone with a respectable level of skill. This is also reflected by the constant influx of users. Prior to the CS2 update, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive reached a new all-time peak with over 1,818,000 players.

But all good things come to an end and it seems that the same has happened with CSGO.

The Anticipation For Counter–Strike 2

In the late 2010s, players began speculating about a “huge” update following a string of consistent Operations in the game of fantastic quality. Many content creators asked around and talked about the update being related to Source and it somehow ended up being known as “Source 2.”

At one of the global events for Counter-Strike, Valve President Gabe Newell was jokingly asked about when the company was going to release “Counter-Strike 2.” To no one’s surprise, Newell shot the idea down almost immediately.

The rumor mill continued to work overtime as content creators made videos talking about how Source 2 was not happening anytime soon because it was too much work. This was followed up with another stream of leaks claiming that Counter-Strike Global Offensive will receive new game modes and several other additions in the update.

In line with the leaks, the community surmised that a Source 2 version of CSGO was definitely in development. This belief was further solidified when professional players blatantly avoided questions regarding the update when the topic was brought up in a conversation or somehow slipped up and revealed confidential information before attempting to cover it up.

Fast forward to 2023 and CS2 replaced Global Offensive with the greatest overhaul the game has seen since its launch but it wasn’t without a catch.

CS2 Is Unplayable

Following the update, players began talking about CS2 and how they were only allowed to play on 64-tick servers. Universal sentiment around the game contained comments like the game being difficult to play in comparison to CSGO, the movement being a lot more rigid, and CS2 just not feeling like Counter-Strike.

CS2 introduced sub-tick updates to enhance the movement and shooting systems in matchmaking. According to players, the relationship between this addition and the servers implemented in the game didn’t mesh well, causing the overall experience to be a downgrade. Players speculated that Valve doesn’t want to update its infrastructure because, like all things in this world, it would require money.

On the flip side, the iconic skins and cases seem to be perfectly intact and allowed CS2 to make $40 million within an hour of its release. Everyone knows that video games are made to generate revenue. It’s been that way since the infant stages of the gaming industry but back then, making a good game was how you made money. The lack of advanced internet and more meant that a product had to achieve a benchmark standard before being shipped or players wouldn’t buy it.

Nowadays, modern technology allows companies to generate revenue via other means, including cosmetics. These microtransactions combined with high-speed internet have led to the birth of the “release now, fix later” mentality, impacting almost every other project in the industry. This has led to a decline in the quality aspect of games from most top-end developers, including Valve with CS2.

Players on the internet are constantly talking about the issues plaguing the game, the top of the list being inconsistent movement. It’s led to discrepancies where bullets hit the opponent from a position where it’s invisible to the player, not allowing them to react in time thus hindering core gameplay. Despite the fundamental aspect of CS2 being affected, the revenue is clearly coming in just like how users are still playing.

While the system has premium accuracy, it appears that it’s either not fusing well with the movement or that the movement itself is broken and needs to be fixed. After spending time with the new update, players have constantly felt that Valve may not have tested its own game given the amount of problems in it. This sentiment stems from the fact that these game-breaking issues exist despite the paramount status Counter-Strike holds in its space.

What’s funny is that the issues arising from this new system are juxtaposed with the magnificent clangs of bullets and bells. Somehow, the system allows players to create precise musical beats by shooting bells in any order, similar to playing a piano, guitar, or any other musical instrument. It’s clear that the developers focused their efforts on something but perhaps it didn’t have the desired effect.

It’s Probably Going To Get Better

Even though things will get better with time, the community believes that things starting off on the wrong foot is devastating since CS2 is supposed to replace Global Offensive. Only time will tell where this road takes the game but what’s clear is that players will continue to play. Farewell, CSGO.