A new Counter-Strike Source 2 version is real and a beta will be arriving shortly, it's been claimed.
Last week, known Valve leaker and content creator 'Gabefollower' spotted the inclusion of two new executables within the latest NVIDIA drivers - “csgos2.exe” and “cs2.exe”, thereby likely referring to Counter-Strike Global Offensive 2 and Counter-Strike 2 respectively. As expected, rumors about a new Counter-Strike again popped like mushrooms after rain after this interesting tidbit was discovered. We've included 'Gabefollower's' original tweet from last week down below:
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 (@gabefollower) March 1, 2023
Fast forward one week and we now have reputable esports journalist and tournament host Richard Lewis saying that various sources have reached out to him regarding a new Counter-Strike version within the Source 2 engine. Not only that, but Lewis also writes that a beta for the new Counter-Strike is actually happening very soon, possibly as soon as later this month.
"Speaking under the condition of anonymity sources with knowledge of the game’s development told us that indeed there was a new version of Counter-Strike on its way and that had been worked on for some time", Lewis writes on his blog. "The new version is almost certainly set to be released under the working title Counter-Strike 2 and the tentative release date for the beta is in this month of March with April 1st at the outside."
The journalist adds, "Specific details of the game included that it will, of course, be on the Source 2 engine, a move that should improve the optimization and graphical fidelity of the game. That is likely to come at a cost of performance for players with low-end PCs, although Valve historically has always had a philosophy of empowering those with everyday gaming rigs to be able to play their games."
Whether this new Counter-Strike is indeed referred to as Counter-Strike 2, or just an updated version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive within Valve's new Source 2 engine, isn't entirely clear just yet. Of course, this isn't an official confirmation that Valve will be releasing a new Counter-Strike, but the latest signs might indicate as much.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, also known as CS:GO, was released in 2012 for various platforms, and runs on Valve's older Source engine. The successor to this engine, Source 2, was announced in 2015 with the first game running on the engine being DOTA 2. Another popular title that runs in Valve's engine is Half-Life: Alyx - the publisher's Half-Life VR title set five years before the events of the ever-popular Half-Life 2.
About the author: Passionate gamer since the NES era and begun writing about games in 2014. Joined Wccftech gaming section in 2015. Has owned every console since then. Can never make up his mind on what console to play. Weird sense of humor but can be funny from time to time.
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