Counter-Strike 2 is expected to be released next week after a not-so-cryptic teaser from developer Valve on Twitter.
In a tweet, the official Counter-Strike dev team asked what followers are doing next Wednesday, which would be September 27. Many believe this confirms that Counter-Strike 2 will finally be launching on September 27, giving us just seven days to wait.
As far as release dates go this is the most concrete hint we have had since Valve promised and then missed a Summer 2023 release window. Since the initial reveal, there has been no word on when Counter-Strike 2 will release, but this hint surely confirms it.
However, this is Valve and they have been known to pull tricks before, they also famously do not like to rush their releases, so if some major issues are found in the next seven days do not be surprised if CS2 does not launch next week.
The timing is certainly interesting, as the ESL Pro League, one of the biggest Counter-Strike tournaments in the world, will be in its playoff phase at that point, with the tournament set to conclude on October 1. The release will no doubt take some of the focus away from the tournament, but it’s very unlikely the final few matches will be played on the new version.
Counter-Strike 2 is of course the massive update to CS:GO that was revealed earlier in the year. There have been a ton of new features revealed, from totally reworked smoke grenades to new visuals, movement and server rates to remove the tick system. All of the major maps have also had a facelift, with some getting complete reworks. While it will technically launch as a free update to CS:GO, CS2 is effectively a brand-new game.
Fortunately, all your skins and progress will carry over, and anyone with CS:GO access will still get the same benefits they already have. If you have played CS:GO recently and have an active matchmaking rank there is a good chance you can already play CS2, so it might be worth booting up the game to see if it gives you the option to download the new version before the official release.
The pro-CS scene is likely to transition straight to CS2 after the conclusion of the ESL Pro League, with the first Major taking place in early 2024. The next few months will likely see a lot of disruption to the top teams and we could see some new star players rise to the top of the scene.
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