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Counter-Strike 2 Officially Launches On Steam

Last Updated on September 29, 2023 by Dominic

Valve Entertainment on Wednesday officially released Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), the sequel to its ever-popular multiplayer first shooter game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), for PC players on Steam.

Counter-Strike 2 Officially Launches On Steam

CS2, a free upgrade to CS:GO, has been part of limited technical testing for almost six months since Valve first announced it in March 2023.

Back then, Valve promised Counter-Strike 2 to be an “overhaul to every system, every piece of content, and every part of the [Counter-Strike] experience.”

Valve says the updated game is “the beginning of an exciting new chapter and the largest technical leap in Counter-Strike’s history.”

 

Powered by the company’s Source 2 engine, the Counter-Strike 2 game is upgraded with realistic physically-based rendering, state of the art networking, and improved Community Workshop tools.

Besides the classic objective-focused gameplay that comes with Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike 2 also comes with the below additional features:

  • All-new CS Ratings with the updated Premier mode
  • Global and Regional leaderboards
  • Upgraded and overhauled maps
  • Game-changing dynamic smoke grenades
  • Tick-rate-independent gameplay
  • Redesigned visual effects and audio
  • All items from CS:GO moving forward to CS2

To run Counter-Strike 2, Valve has provided the minimum system requirements below for OS platforms, such as Windows and SteamOS + Linux:

Windows

  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel Core i5 750 or higher
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Video card must be 1 GB or more and should be a DirectX 11-compatible with support for Shader Model 5.0
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 85 GB available space

Steam OS + Linux

  • OS: Ubuntu 20.04
  • Processor: 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel Core i5 750 or higher
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD GCN+ or NVIDIA Kepler+ with up-to-date Vulkan drivers. Support for VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library is highly recommended.
  • Storage: 85 GB available space
  • Sound Card: Highly recommended

Counter-Strike 2 is now available for download and play for free on PC via the Steam Store.