Rumors regarding CSGO 2 or Counter Strike 2 release have taken fans' excitement to another level altogether, and hence, we have jotted down every detail that we have about CSGO Source 2 below.
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| CSGO 2 or Counter Strike 2 leaks |
First-person shooter video game Counter Strike: Global Offensive, also known as CSGO, was made and launched by Valve Corporation. It was initially released in 2012 and is the fourth game in the Counter Strike series.
Players in CSGO can choose to be on the Terrorist or Counter-Terrorists team and compete in a variety of game scenarios, such as disarming bombs, rescuing hostages, and taking targets. And because of the game's solid core gameplay, vibrant esports scene, and abundant in-game merchandise, the player base has been increasing year after year over the course of time.
During the course of its ten-year lifespan, CS:GO has had a few significant updates that have added a lot of fresh material for the player base, but this hasn't prevented the fans from calling for a CSGO sequel or CSGO 2.
For the past few days, Valve's activity in the Steam backend has seemed to lead to the launch of CSGO Source 2, an improved version of its popular first-person shooter game.
Nevertheless, recent trademark filings relating to both Global Offensive and something tellingly dubbed "CS2" seem to imply that Counter Strike 2 is on the road. This would indicate that we may be getting closer to a full sequel and the Counter Strike 2 release date.
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Counter Strike 2 or CS:GO 2 Leaks and Rumors
The excitement to get any information about Counter Strike 2, the rumored update to CS:GO that will bring it onto the Source 2 engine is skyrocketing. Internet sleuths have been looking through every patch, Steam update, and dev build modification to attempt to determine when this significant, landscape-changing update will go live.
devs started cooking again, @aquaismissing wake up pic.twitter.com/gKAL1HuRMl
— Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) March 16, 2023
Recently, Valve updated and changed the Counter Strike Global Offensive beta platform in addition to uploading new executable files branded "CS2" to the CSGO Steam archive this week, hinting that CSGO Source 2 is on its way.
However, a little research into the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seems to indicate that this could be a full Counter Strike 2 upgrade rather than the eagerly anticipated engine update, CSGO Source 2.
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Counter Strike 2 Trademark
The USPTO received a trademark application for something named "CS2" from Valve Corporation on March 14. If that weren't enough, the file includes an "associated properties section" that lists some more Valve trademarks that might be related to CS2.
These two serial numbers in this application can be used to access Counter Strike and CSGO, two additional Valve products.
Did some digging. Apparently, the new 'CS2' trademarks are directly related to CS:GO: pic.twitter.com/tWglOMD8yB
— Aquarius (@aquaismissing) March 17, 2023
Simply put, Valve has applied for a new trademark for something called CS2, which is associated with the Counter Strike and CSGO names as intellectual property.
Although it is currently unknown exactly what these new markings will be utilized for, players are confident it has something to do with the Counter Strike 2 or CSGO Source 2 upgrade.
Counter Strike 2 promotional events
Another idea is that because Valve continually changes the cover image on the CS:GO Twitter account, Counter Strike 2 will release soon.
At about 1:00 PM ET, fans discovered that the official Counter Strike Twitter account's cover photo been changed to five silhouettes of the game's character models on March 17.
Core CS:GO developers and other Valve devs that have been working on CS:GO simultaneously changed their Steam profile pictures.
— Aquarius (@aquaismissing) March 17, 2023
I think it's a big sign, that we are getting closer. This might suggest that they're taking screenshots for promo material (see example pics below). pic.twitter.com/qKFFemMMWE
Desperate fans and web sleuths, however, believe that this is actually a tease for the release of Counter Strike 2.
Although this might appear to be a minor tweak, Aquarius theorizes that developers at Valve are altering their profile photographs so they can grab screenshots for advertising photos for Counter Strike 2.
Well, that was for Counter Strike 2, there are several activities from the developers that have been hinting at CSGO Source 2 upgrade.
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CSGO Source 2 upgrade teasers
The first sign of CSGO Source 2 was the addition of Source 2 to the Developer pre-release branch.
This was a clear sign that Valve developers are developing and testing a Source 2 version of CS:GO in preparation for a release to the public.
On March 14, a new executable with the name "cs2.exe" and the description "Limited Test Build" appeared. This remains arguably our strongest proof that Counter Strike 2 will indeed be the name of a new executable.
SOURCE 2 HAS BEEN ADDED TO DEVELOPER PRE-RELEASE BRANCH!https://t.co/Fv33DwsGvP pic.twitter.com/6mLteY2FoU
— Aquarius (@aquaismissing) March 14, 2023
On March 15, Aquarius started publishing notices that indicated activity on the official Counter Strike: Global Offensive Blog. Of course, we anticipate that the announcement of the Source 2 beta will be made in a blog post, so this may be a lead-up to that.
The Source 2 beta rumors were finally addressed by the official CS:GO Twitter account on March 15—sort of. With a video segment on all the Source 2 rumors, they responded to an ESL tweet. Michael Scott simply peeked through his office blinds in the reply, which was just a GIF from the office. The CS:GO community went insane after this response.
On March 16, the blog activity persisted, fueling speculation that Valve engineers were planning to time the publication of the formal blog post announcement to coincide with the release of the CS:GO Source 2 beta. Michael Scott was on the phone in the GIF this time. Who knows what this is supposed to mean?
— CS:GO (@CSGO) March 16, 2023
Well, now that we have read so much about CSGO Source 2, let's get to know what CSGO Source 2 actually is.
What is CSGO Source 2?
The most recent version of the engine, Source 2, was published by Valve in 2014 and is already being used by Half-Life: Alyx, Artifact, Dota Underlords, and Dota 2.
Any future version of Counter Strike would most certainly benefit from an upgrade to the Source 2 engine. The Source engine used by CS:GO today, which was created in 2004, has been upgraded over time.
Players speculate that it's highly unlikely that there will be a "new game"; instead, it'll just be CS:GO as it's always been but with the Source 2 engine.
It's unclear what CS:GO Source 2 would actually do. The essential gameplay of Counter Strike couldn't be altered too much by Valve, but there can be visual and technical advancements.
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CSGO Source 2 release date
When the latest Dota2 update launched on Steam on March 6, several CS:GO strings were also added, as discovered by the Steam database tracker SteamDB.
The update was summarised by Aquarius, another CS:GO update tracker on Twitter, who also confirmed what it meant. He stated, "CS:GO Source 2 can be dropped ANY day now. It will be a free opt-in DLC that will be available to anyone who’d like to participate in beta testing. It’s real and it’s happening."
Also, according to Lewis' report, Counter Strike 2 will debut with a beta in March 2023 and the Counter Strike 2 and the beta will launch no later than April 1st.
Well, this is all we got. If Counter-Strike 2 is indeed coming, we suggest you start working on your CSGO ranks or even becoming familiar with the best CSGO crosshairs.
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