Get ready, Counter-Strike fans – it looks like a new version of CS:GO – possibly called Counter-Strike 2 – could be on the way.
Since there’s been no formal word from Valve, Steam, or anyone else for that matter, all we can do right now is chalk this up to either a mistake, a hoax, or a hilarious misunderstanding. If a recent NVIDIA leak is correct, and executables called “cs2” and “csgo2” have indeed been discovered, a beta could launch as soon as later this month.
In addition to a curious tweet from noted Counter-Strike leaker @gabefollower revealing the curious additions to the NVIDIA driver update, journalist Richard Lewis has also stepped up to confirm that “a new version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (is ) in its own way” and reckons it is “almost certainly ready to be released under the working title Counter-Strike 2”.
Lewis also claims that “the tentative release date for the beta is this March with April 1 outside”.
Something strange just happened. The latest NVIDIA drivers introduced support for unknown app executables called “csgos2.exe” and “cs2.exe”. Why the project is called Counter-Strike 2 and what are you cooking @csgo? https://t.co/U9YKlAjwgy pic.twitter.com/PU8Op9uGLq
— Gabe Follower 2 (@gabefollower) 1 March 2023
Other sources saying that the cs2.exe found in the NVIDIA driver is “old and irrelevant”, assuring players “your skins are safe, separate games are not being made”, and saying that a Source 2 game is “a real thing”.
“I have fairly reliable information that Valve has been testing CS:GO on Source 2 with the help of third-party QA companies in the US and EU since at least early December,” gabefollower added. “I can’t confirm this 100 percent, but it’s decent enough to share.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a bit of confusion about what the game will – or won’t – be.
“It won’t be (a) new game, it won’t be Counter-Strike 2, it won’t even be a rebrand, just CS:GO Source 2. And your skins are fine, they will be available in a new version,” added gabefollower (thanks, Win.gg).
And it’s not as if Counter-Strike’s appeal is waning either; CS:GO’s recently broke its all-time PC concurrent user peak… 11 years after it launched on Steam.
The shooter – which has been around in one form or another for over 20 years at this point – recently surpassed its own concurrent record, peaking at 1.3 million players last month.