Valve might just be releasing a major update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive soon, which could be a new version of the game on the Source 2 engine. Sources say that the launch could be as early as March.
CS:GO Update
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive might be transferred to the Source 2 Engine, which is also used by other Valve video games. It was said that a group of professional CS:GO players are already trying out the updated game in the company's Seattle headquarter.
This could mean that the update is much closer than players think. To add that, people also took to Twitter to point out that the latest NVIDIA drivers now have support for app executables called "csgos2.exe" and "cs2.exe."
Journalist Richard Lewis, known for covering CS:GO news before, also mentioned that Valve is also working on an improved matchmaking system for the game. As mentioned in The Verge, it will look more like third-party platforms like FACEIT or ESEA.
Valve may also increase the tick rate of servers used by the game from 64 to 128 which will lead to less latency online. As pointed out, it has been 10 years since the release of CS:GO, and despite that, Valve is not putting much publicity on the major update.
What to Expect
The Source 2 Engine was released in 2014 and is already used in other known games like Artifact, Dota 2, Dota Underlords, and Half-Life: Alyx. Should CS:GO upgrade to Source 2, The new engine will improve graphical fidelity and optimization, according to Dexerto.
Based on several leaks and data mining, it was also said that Valve is working on the Source 2 version of the maps, and they are still being tested since back in 2020. Aside from that, it's unlikely that CS:GO 2 will change much since CS:GO has already proven its success.
The beta version is said to be ready to go and if it is not released by March 2023, it could be launched by April 1st at the latest. It's still not clear if CS:GO 2 will operate separately or if it will merge with the current CS:GO version.
What Source 2 Can Bring
The Source 2 Engine is the successor of the Source 1 Engine, and it has more to offer players in terms of gameplay, graphics, and more. For one, it has integrated asset management through the Asset System.
It also comes with a completely rebuilt Hammer level editor that features modern polygon mesh editing tools. The new engine-integrated authoring tools have been rebuilt by Valve from the ground up, according to their website.
Aside from lower latency and more responsive output, it also comes with improved audio and voice processing. Source 2 also supports both forward and deferred rendering pipelines, and has physically-based rendering support.
The engine brings enhanced Panorama GUI, which is designed to be more user-friendly and has support for the Steam Audio sound system. The only downside is that the engine only works on 64-bit.
