A CS: GO Source 2 Port Is Coming, Not A Full-On Sequel

Mentions of CS: GO in the context of Source 2 have been spotted in a fresh Dota 2 update. The spot comes from renowned Valve leaker Gabe Follower 2 who has posted multiple screenshots of the relevant entries in Dota 2’s update’s source files. 

Biggest CS:GO leak on Source 2 just appeared in the latest Dota 2 update, there's A LOT, so I'll post everything in threadhttps://t.co/oirycuC0yr pic.twitter.com/7DVq0EPY9X

— ‎Gabe Follower 2 (@gabefollower) March 6, 2023

Presumably, Dota 2’s latest Dead Reckoning and patch 7.32e update has made all these relevant CS: GO-centric entries come out in the spotlight. It appears as if several of CS: GO’s core design elements are being cast a lens on at the moment in the context of a massive new update. 

Another scoop concerning a sizable SteamDB update has been seen, which could be set in place to welcome a not-so-distant reveal of new CS-GO news. 

IT'S TIMEhttps://t.co/N4ouOVRsKn pic.twitter.com/Wl0AR1Jp7m

— ‎Gabe Follower 2 (@gabefollower) March 6, 2023

Now, all this and previous latter-day news and rumors have led many to believe that the next iteration in the Counter-Strike franchise, likely Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 2, is due to be revealed or announced soon.

After all, the Nivida driver update scene that went down in recent times did create bustling room for speculation where all eyes were fixated on a new Counter-Strike game rather than anything else.

The following tweet made rounds across the internet like wildfire—even had Richard Lewis corroborating the news and confirming that Counter-Strike 2 is around the corner. 

Mentions of two notable executables software called “csgo2.exe” and “cs2.exe” were found in a regular Nvidia driver updater and that too by the same Gabe Follower 2. 

Something weird just happened. Latest NVIDIA drivers introduced support for unknown app executables called "csgos2.exe" and "cs2.exe". Why project is called Counter-Strike 2 and what are you cooking @csgo? https://t.co/U9YKlAjwgy pic.twitter.com/PU8Op9uGLq

— ‎Gabe Follower 2 (@gabefollower) March 1, 2023

But as it has happened, the gigantic CS: GO community and other proponents of the gaming industry have been under the impression that a new Counter-Strike game is coming out soon. That is probably not the case.

What could be really happening, however, is that the existing CS: GO game could be getting revisited with Valve’s Source 2 engine. Tyler McVicker—a known figure in the Valve community—has made a video explaining the full capacity of the recent Nvidia driver leak and clearing pertinent misconceptions running amok at present.

Source 2 is Valve’s in-house game development engine and the successor to the original Source which Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is built upon. The latter compared to the former only boasts rudimentary potential, given how Source 2 is Valve’s most up-to-date proprietary engine that boasts heightened capabilities. 

In the past, Valve has ported Dota 2 to Source 2, making it the US-based industry giant’s first actual game to receive the engine upgrade. The process was encapsulated in an update for the MOBA called Dota 2 Reborn. 

Now, however, Valve is reportedly repeating its strategy all the same with CS: GO, thereby transitioning the first-person shooter to Source 2, but not releasing a new game. 

Tyler in his video above claims that the engine overhaul for CS: GO will make landfall in the next 60 days. He also states that the community needs to set its expectations straight. Even if the game does get its engine revamped to Source 2, there’s still going to be practically no playable difference from a before and after perspective.

The major bump in functionality that will arrive in the wake of the upgrade seems to hinge on making CS: GO compatible with Valve’s workshop tools.

In addition, workshop developers would gain access to the massively refined tools of the Source 2 engine, so CS: GO—the same game that we’ve been playing for 11 years now—can have content expanded for it down the road. That’s the gist of it. 

Unfortunately, it’s wishful thinking to expect Valve to drop CS: GO 2 across the board just like that. However, according to fans, if the forthcoming upgrade somehow manages to resolve matchmaking issues of the title as is, that’ll satisfy a hefty portion of CS: GO’s community.