Counter-Strike 2, the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike's history, will launch in Summer 2023, and is available in Limited Testing to some CS:GO players beginning today.

CS2 is a free upgrade to CS:GO, marking the start a new era of Counter-Strike on Valve's Source 2 engine.

The game's full range of new features will be announced at launch, but during the limited testing period Valve will be evaluating a subset of those features to get it ready for the worldwide release.

Here's some of what CS2 will mean for players:

• Upgraded and overhauled maps
• Game-changing dynamic smoke grenades
• Tick-rate-independent gameplay 
• Redesigned visual effects and audio
• All of a player's CS:GO items go with them to CS2

Smoke Grenades

Smoke Grenades are now dynamic volumetric objects that interact with the environment, and react to lighting, gunfire, and explosions.

• Gameplay: Smoke now has the ability to interact with other gameplay events, creating new opportunities. Bullets and HE grenades can push smoke to briefly clear sightlines or expand occlusion.
• Expands to fill spaces naturally: Now the smoke will seep out of opened doorways and broken windows, go down and up stairs, as well as expand in long corridors and combine with other smokes.
• Reacts to Lighting: In Counter-Strike 2 smoke particles work with the unified lighting system allowing for more realistic light and color.

What you see is what you get

Tick rate no longer matters for moving, shooting, or throwing.

Sub-tick updates are the heart of Counter-Strike 2. Previously, the server only evaluated the world in discrete time intervals (called ticks). Thanks to Counter-Strike 2’s sub-tick update architecture, servers know the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a ‘nade is thrown.

As a result, regardless of tick rate, your moving and shooting will be equally responsive and your grenades will always land the same way.

Cleaner, Brighter, Better

From upgrades to overhauls, maps are cleaner, brighter, better.

• Full Overhaul Maps: The overhauled maps have been fully rebuilt from the ground up, leveraging all of the new Source 2 tools and rendering features.
• Upgrade Maps: These are maps that use new Source 2 lighting, including a physically based rendering system that produces realistic materials, lighting, and reflections.
• Touchstone Maps: Classic maps with solid foundations that players can use to evaluate gameplay changes from CS:GO to Counter-Strike 2. These have improvements to lighting and character read, but otherwise haven't been changed.

Source 2 Tools

The Source 2 tools and rendering features will be available for community map makers to make it easier to build, experiment and iterate. And stay tuned for the Source 2 Item Workshop, which will be available later on in the limited test.

Your Items in a whole new light

Bring your entire CS:GO inventory with you to Counter-Strike 2. Not only will you keep every item you’ve collected over the years, but they’ll all benefit from Source 2 lighting and materials.

In addition to supporting legacy models and finishes, all stock weapons have been upgraded with high-resolution models, and some weapon finishes take advantage of these new models.

Hi-Def VFX

From UI to gameplay, all visual effects have been reimagined.

All of the visual effects have been updated in Counter-Strike 2. With Source 2 lighting and particle systems, there’s an all-new look and behavior for water, explosions, fire, smoke, muzzle flashes, bullet tracers, impact effects, and more.

• Gameplay Visuals: In Counter-Strike 2 the most critical gameplay visuals have been redesigned with readability in mind. Bullet impacts can be easily viewed at a distance, and directional blood impacts (that fade over time) give you more information as you move through the world.
• Environment Effects: Experience completely reauthored explosions, fire, C4 lighting, and more. Leveraging the Source 2 Engine and modern hardware, environmental effects in Counter-Strike 2 feature improved visual fidelity and greater consistency
• UI Enhancements: The UI in Counter-Strike 2 has gotten a complete overhaul, including fresh visual effects throughout the HUD. Not only do these improvements look nice, they also communicate important game state

Accurate Audio

Reworked, Rebalanced, Reverbed: Counter-Strike 2 sounds have been reworked to better reflect the physical environment, be more distinct, and express more game state. They have also been rebalanced for a more comfortable listening experience.

There’s More to Come

The Limited Test only evaluates a subset of Counter-Strike 2's features, so that major issues can be resolved before the summer. But there’s much more to come. In just a few months we’ll reveal all of the details of Counter-Strike 2, and we can’t wait to share it with you.