Counter-Strike 2 is released today for PC and Steamdeck as Valve drops the curtains on Counter-Strike Global Offensive, popularly known as CSGO.

This comes after around 6 months since the game was first teased on Twitter on its official handle with a teaser video.

Then followed the gradual invites to play the game in beta and provide the developers with feedback to improve CS2 before launch.

The Final Tease

Then Counter Strike 2’s official handle posted a tweet, “What are you doing next Wednesday”. This raised the excitement of the fans to another level.

Many were speculating about the update to bring Matchmaking mode along with new music kits to the mix. While few were putting their bet on the Danger Zone.

Many players, including professional CSGO athletes, were questioning the readiness of the game for the release.

But Valve had other plans as they released Counter-Strike 2 today, and replaced CSGO in people’s Steam library through a 5.9 GB auto update.

The Best First Person Shooter Saga begins

CS2 is a free upgrade to the existing CSGO players and the weapon skins, equipment, kits, and other collectibles are transferred to it.

And if you are playing Counter-Strike for the first time with CS2 then there is a shortcut to level up without the grind.

Just like the retired game, you can still buy the prime status upgrade from the Steam store.

There is much more that comes with the release but here is the summary of what is in store if you happen to play today.

  • The revamped CS Ratings and the latest Premier mode (Premier ratings are reset from beta)
  • Leaderboards on both global and regional scales
  • Maps with superior enhancements and redesigns
  • Revolutionary dynamic smoke grenades for a strategic edge
  • Gameplay that is unaffected by tick rate
  • Refreshed visuals and audio effects
  • The transition of all CS:GO items into CS2.

You can enjoy all of CS2 but make sure to keep the minimum requirements in mind.

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

You can start playing the game now as CSGO servers have gone offline. It would be best to update and get on the CS2 bandwagon.

However, if your hardware is aging and the Counter-Strike feels overwhelming because of hardware bottleneck then you can consider tweaking the video settings.