Recently, Valve took to the airwaves to reveal Counter-Strike 2, the first (technically) new game in the series in more than ten years. As a next-generation esports product, Counter-Strike 2 takes full advantage of the Source 2 engine, offering a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the ever-popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. When CS2 launches in the summer, it’ll totally replace CSGO, but how exactly do the two games differ from one another?

For years, fans have been eagerly awaiting a Source 2 upgrade for CSGO, but not everyone expected to receive an entirely new game. It’s a dramatic change that promises to shake up the esports scene, and since the CS2 reveals started, some VALORANT pros have started considering a shift to the all-new platform. Like CSGO, Counter-Strike 2 will be totally free-to-play, and everything that you’ve unlocked in CSGO – including skins – will port across.

Image Credit: Valve

Valve has dubbed Counter-Strike 2 the ‘largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history,’ and it definitely shows. But, how exactly does CS2 differ from CSGO?

Firstly, it’s important to stress that by nature, the upgrade to Source 2 brings enhanced clarity and fidelity, cleaner textures and edges, and better graphical performance overall. There’s a limited test phase running as we speak, and some of the best CSGO players are already experiencing how much better Counter-Strike 2 looks on the screen. From the way light interacts with surfaces to the resolution of skins and character models, everything has been improved.

One of the most impressive changes in Counter-Strike 2 is the introduction of responsive, dynamic smokes. In a technical showcase, these new gadgets were shown in full, and they look superb:

There will also be updates made to the full suite of maps available in CSGO. It has been explained by Valve that these updates will come in three forms:

• Touchstone
• Upgrade
• Overhaul

For Touchstone maps, very little will change outside of lighting and graphics. For Upgrade maps, there will be extensive lighting changes, and textures and clutter will also be enhanced. With Overhaul, the biggest changes are expected, and Valve will completely rebuild – or has rebuilt – classic maps in the Source 2 engine. At present, it seems that Overpass is slated for an Overhaul, for example.

For the CSGO fans that have always had an issue with the game’s tick rate, rejoice – that’s now a thing of the past. With Counter-Strike 2, the tick rate isn’t a thing, offering the most razer-sharp, laser-focused reaction times during a game. It’s a critical change that’ll help the esports scene immeasurably. In the last few months, CSGO has smashed peak player records, but there are expectations that, with all these technical upgrades considered, Counter-Strike 2 will go above and beyond.

It was originally thought that CSGO on Source 2 would arrive in Q1 of 2023, but as per Valve’s comments, Counter-Strike 2 will launch in 2023, overwriting CSGO in everyone’s libraries. It’s an exciting enough concept, and some of the quality-of-life improvements are sure to entice a bigger player base than ever before onto the platform. It’ll be interesting to see how the world’s best CSGO teams adapt to the new platform, too.

Oh, and player characters now have visible legs! It’s the future.