Valve recently announced Counter-Strike 2. With the announcement, the developers have also confirmed that the skins owned in CS:GO will remain in Counter-Strike 2. Moreover, with the Source 2 visual update, the skins look better than ever.

Following the announcement, the price of the CS:GO skins also started to skyrocket in recent days. More and more skins, cases, and stickers are being traded regularly on the Steam market.

However, some trades are also being made outside the Steam market as they remain some of the expensive skins in the game. Similarly, a trader named ZipeL just completed the second-largest trade in CS history. ZipeL sold an AK-47 Case Hardened and Karambit Case Hardened skins for $500,000 in total.

Read More: G2 NiKo Thinks the Responsive Smokes is a Bad Addition to the Game and Might Get Removed

AK-47 and Karambit Case Hardened Skins for $500,000?

If you’re familiar with the CS:GO skins, you already know that some CS:GO skins have specific and unique patterns. Even within those patterns, some are ultra-rare skins that only exist in a limited quantity in the whole world.

So naturally, these skins are very expensive, and only very few people own them as souvenirs in their collection. The two skins mentioned are AK-47 Case Hardened ST MW (661 pattern) and Karambit Case Hardened (#387 P1 pattern.)

Both skins are the rarest in the Case Hardened category and have the most blue coloring among all the Case Hardened skins. On top of that, the AK-47 skin has 4x Titan | Katowice 2014 (Holo) stickers. Each of these stickers costs well above $60,000

ZipeL worked as a middleman to complete the trade on behalf of Luksusbums, the previous owner of these rare Case Hardened skins. However, there is no official information regarding the buyer except for the fact that the buyer is a Chinese collector.

Read More: Popular CSGO Skin Trading Website Gets Hacked, $6 Million Worth Of Skins Have Been Stolen

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Valve just dropped the biggest bomb with the surprise release of Counter-Strike 2. Apart from the engine update, the game is undergoing a few changes from its predecessor, including a visual upgrade, a sub-tick system, and brand-new Responsive or Volumetric Smokes.

The new Responsive Smokes has dynamic features that create volumetric 3D objects and can interact with other physical environments in the game. Additionally, the Responsive Smokes can react to lighting and grow to fill spaces naturally.

Players can also shoot the smoke to create a tiny gap and see through the smoke clouds. Moreover, throwing grenades in the Volumetric Smoke can completely push the smoke clouds away for a short duration, making anyone or anything visible through it for that amount of time.

After the smoke was demonstrated, players were split into two groups, one largely favoring the new feature compared to the other. And it looks like G2 NiKo is one of the players who isn’t in support of the new smoke.

Read More: How to Access the Counter Strike 2 Beta Limited Test

G2 NiKo’s opinion About Responsive Smokes

Currently, the game is in a limited test beta phase, and only a handful of players got the access to it. Most of the players who got beta access are CS:GO professional players and content creators. NiKo is one of the few people who got limited-time access and has spent quite some time in the game to get the new Counter-Strike experience.

While NiKo was playing and streaming Counter-Strike 2 on his Twitch, one of his viewers asked him if the new smoke was “game-breaking.” NiKo replied, “there’s no need to have it (new Volumetric Smokes).” The pro player also thinks that Valve may remove the new smoke from the game if enough players give proper feedback to them.

The CS community has a pretty mixed review of the new Responsive Smoke feature. However, the game is still in the limited-test phase, and much is yet to change before the release of the final version. So, only time can tell whether the Responsive or Volumetric Smoke will be a good addition to the Counter-Strike or not.

Read More: Counter Strike 2: All Changes and Release Date

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Valve surprised everyone with the release of Counter-strike 2 beta. Despite much anticipation, the developers made no prior announcement before launching the limited-access beta worldwide. Although most players are disappointed with not getting the chance to test beta as of now, they are just happy that Counter-Strike 2 is not a myth anymore.

Besides the engine update, many other things will undergo significant changes, including map overhaul, volumetric smoke, and sub-tick system. While most changes were well-accepted by the CS community, some things still need to be resolved. And that includes the cheater issues. Yes, the notorious Spinbotters have already made their way into the Counter-Strike 2 servers.

Read More: Shroud Gives Classic Response to Counter-Strike 2 Teammate whose Wife Left him

Spinbotters Strikes in Counter-Strike 2 Servers

One of the biggest reasons why CS: GO players hated the Valve official matchmaking was the hacker issues in the game. Because of this, most players preferred to play on FACEIT over Valve’s official matchmaking servers.

However, with the release of Counter-Strike 2, players had the hope that the cheater problem would be solved with better VAC anti-cheat. But, just one week after Counter-Strike 2 was released, cheaters have already infiltrated the servers.

The funny part is that some cheats can even be done via a few simple lines of console commands. Anyone can use wallhack in the game and get away with it because it’s a built-in feature. Nonetheless, Valve will surely release a fix to remove these built-in features that allow players to cheat in-game without actually cheating.

The main issue remains with the real cheaters who ruin the game for other people. Counter-Strike 2 is in a limited test beta phase, and only a few selected people got access to it. Yet, there are cheaters among them. So, what will happen when CS2 launches globally? Will Valve be able to tackle the number of cheaters that’ll plague the servers? Or will they finally be able to make VAC a better anti-cheat like VALORANT’s Vanguard? Time alone will tell.

Read More: Counter Strike 2: All Changes and Release Date

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Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek is a streamer and former CSGO pro. Shroud is an American streamer and content creator most famous for his godlike aim in FPS games. He is famous for playing competitive FPS games like PUBG, CSGO, Rainbow 6, etc. From a very young age, he started practicing his aim. Which then helped him achieve the near-perfect aim in FPS games. Shroud used to be a Pro CSGO player before retiring and becoming a full-time streamer on Twitch.

When PUBG first came out, Shroud was considered one of the best players in the world. His popularity rose so much that Mixer offered him more than $10m to stream on the site. But, a year later, after the shutdown of Mixer, Shroud returned to Twitch and has been streaming there ever since.

Recently, with the announcement of CS:GO 2, the entire gaming community has been looking to shroud to see his reaction and thoughts on the game. Shroud and some other streamers were given early access to CS:GO and have been testing the game for the last couple of days.

During one of his recent CS:GO 2 matches, one of Shroud’s teammates was feeling down and said that his wife had recently left him. Shroud gave him some advice and told him to look at the bright side of things even when everything seems to be going wrong.

Read More: Twitch Streamer CDawgVA and Chris Broad Raises Over $557k During Cyclethon 2 Livestream

Shroud Gives Advice to CS:GO 2 Teammate

In the clip shared on Reddit, we can see Shroud asking his teammate,

“Can you elaborate on the whole wife leaving you, what happened?”

To which the teammate responded,

“I have a 12-month-old daughter. My wife decided to leave with her ex and decided that she loved him more and decided to walk out”

Shroud then asked,

“She took all your sh*t?”

The teammates’ reply was,

“No, I let her take her stuff, she came and got her stuff with the daughter, and she just leaves, it’s kinda hard.”

Shroud then said,

“This got too real too fast”

The teammate then said that his wife didn’t even give him a reason. Finally, Shroud being Shroud, said, “Well, at least you got the CS:GO 2 Beta”

Read More: xQc Spots Adept During Livestream and Immediately Regrets it

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Valve has dropped the biggest announcement to the CS community in history. Yes! The Source 2, AKA Counter Strike 2 update, is happening this time. After years and years of waiting, Valve has officially revealed that the game is ready to go live anytime soon.

The developers just dropped a blog post alongside three videos to let players know what to expect. And it looks like the wait was worth it, as incredible visuals and gameplay improvements are coming. Not to mention, Valve is implementing a better tick rate system that goes beyond the traditional 128-tick rate system.

Read More: CS:GO Source 2 Might Not Feature a Constant 128 Tick Rate Servers

Counter Strike 2 Beta Limited Test

Valve has announced that the Counter Strike 2 full release will happen this summer. However, from today, Valve will give Limited Test access to “Select CS:GO” players before the full release happens. If you’re a Counter Strike fan, it will be upsetting to be not able to get access to the Limited Test beta.

According to Forbes,

“There are some strict criteria to get into the Limited Test and early reactions seem to be that a lot of people have missed out, so don’t be surprised if you have to wait a while longer yet before you can get your hands on Counter-Strike 2. But those that do get into the Limited Test will be among the first in the world to experience the new era of Counter-Strike.”

So, to be selected by Valve, you must meet certain factors such as high trust factor, recent playtime on Valve’s official servers, and the state of your Steam account. You have any past history on your Steam, including a VAC ban or Game ban, that may also restrict you from getting the Counter Strike 2 limited test.

If you are eligible to try out Counter Strike 2 limited test, you will receive a notification on the main menu of CS:GO. You need to select the invitation and press “ENROLL.” After that, the Counter Strike 2 will begin to download. Upon the completion of the download, launch CS:GO and select the “Limited Test” option to play the Counter Strike 2 limited test.

Valve is rolling out the beta in waves. So, don’t worry if you see your friends getting access but not you. So, keep on checking the game frequently. Also, some players found out that restarting the game and the Steam client did the trick for them. So, you may also try that out.

Read More: More Counter Strike 2 Leaks Lead to Believe CS:GO Source 2 is Just Weeks Away

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Since CS: GO‘s release, the game has gone through multiple updates making the game a little better than the previous version. However, the fundamentals of the game and the Source engine remained the same, despite of Source 2 engine’s availability.

Since then, the Counter Strike community has been waiting for the Source 2 engine to be implemented into the game. There were countless instances where it seemed like Source 2 would release very soon, but it never happened.

However, this time, it happened for real. And Valve has officially released the trailers for its biggest update in history, titled “Counter Strike 2: Leveling Up the World.” Not only that, Valve has released two more videos titled “Counter Strike 2: Responsive Smokes” and “Counter Strike 2: Moving Beyond Tick Rate” to let everyone know that the update is really around the corner.

Read More: Valve Has Officially Revealed Counter Strike 2

Counter Strike 2 All Changes and Release Date

Responsive Smokes

Smoke Grenades are now dynamic volumetric objects that interact with the environment and react to lighting, gunfire, and explosions.

Gameplay

Smoke now has the ability to interact with other gameplay events, creating new opportunities. Bullets and HE grenades can push smoke to briefly clear sightlines or expand occlusion.

Expands to fill spaces naturally

Now the smoke will seep out of opened doorways and broken windows, go down and up stairs, as well as expand in long corridors and combine with other smoke.

Reacts to Lighting

In Counter-Strike 2 smoke particles work with the unified lighting system allowing for more realistic light and color.

New Subtick System: Moving Beyond Tick Rate

Sub-tick updates are the heart of Counter-Strike 2. Previously, the server only evaluated the world in discrete time intervals (called ticks). Thanks to Counter-Strike 2’s sub-tick update architecture, servers know the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a ‘nade is thrown.

As a result, regardless of tick rate, your moving and shooting will be equally responsive, and your grenades will always land the same way.

Cleaner, Brighter, Better Maps

Full Overhaul Maps

The overhauled maps have been fully rebuilt from the ground up, leveraging all of the new Source 2 tools and rendering features.

Example: Overpass A Long – Old vs. New

Upgrade Maps

These are maps that use new Source 2 lighting, including a physically based rendering system that produces realistic materials, lighting, and reflections.

Example: Nuke A Site – Old vs. New

Touchstone Maps

Classic maps with solid foundations that players can use to evaluate gameplay changes from CS:GO to Counter-Strike 2. These have improvements to lighting and character reading but otherwise haven’t been changed.

Example: Dust II B Site – Old vs. New

Source 2 Tools

The Source 2 tools and rendering features will be available for community map makers to make it easier to build, experiment, and iterate. And stay tuned for the Source 2 Item Workshop, which will be available later on in the limited test.

What About Your Old CS:GO Inventory Items?

Bring your entire CS:GO inventory with you to Counter-Strike 2. Not only will you keep every item you’ve collected over the years, but they’ll all benefit from Source 2 lighting and materials.

In addition to supporting legacy models and finishes, all stock weapons have been upgraded with high-resolution models, and some weapon finishes take advantage of these new models.

HI-DEF VFX

All of the visual effects have been updated in Counter-Strike 2. With Source 2 lighting and particle systems, there’s an all-new look and behavior for water, explosions, fire, smoke, muzzle flashes, bullet tracers, impact effects, and more.

Gameplay Visuals

In Counter-Strike 2 the most critical gameplay visuals have been redesigned with readability in mind. Bullet impacts can be easily viewed at a distance, and directional blood impacts (that fade over time) give you more information as you move through the world.

Environment Effects

Experience completely reauthored explosions, fire, C4 lighting, and more. Leveraging the Source 2 Engine and modern hardware, environmental effects in Counter-Strike 2 feature improved visual fidelity and greater consistency.

UI Enhancements

The UI in Counter-Strike 2 has gotten a complete overhaul, including fresh visual effects throughout the HUD. Not only do these improvements look nice, they also communicate important game state.

Accurate Audio

Counter-Strike 2 sounds have been reworked to better reflect the physical environment, be more distinct, and express more game state. They have also been rebalanced for a more comfortable listening experience.

There’s More to Come

The Limited Test only evaluates a subset of Counter-Strike 2’s features so that major issues can be resolved before the summer. But there’s much more to come. In just a few months, Valve will reveal all of the details of Counter-Strike 2.

Counter Strike 2 Release Date

According to Valve’s official statement, Counter Strike 2 will release on Summer 23. But the road to Counter-Strike 2 begins today as a Limited Test for select CS:GO players. During this testing period, Valve will be evaluating a subset of features to shake out any issues before the worldwide release.

Counter-Strike 2 arrives this summer as a free upgrade to CS:GO. So build your loadout, hone your skills, and prepare yourself for what’s next!

Read More: Counter Strike 2 is Right Around the Corner and is Real

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Since CS: GO‘s release, the game has gone through multiple updates making the game a little better than the previous version. However, the fundamentals of the game and the Source engine remained the same, despite of Source 2 engine’s availability.

Since then, the CS community has been waiting for the Source 2 engine to be implemented into the game. There were countless instances where it seemed like Source 2 would release very soon, but it never happened.

However, this time, it happened for real. And Valve has officially released the trailers for its biggest update in history, titled “Counter Strike 2: Leveling Up the World.” Not only that, Valve has released two more videos titled “Counter Strike 2: Responsive Smokes” and “Counter Strike 2: Moving Beyond Tick Rate” to let everyone know what to expect from the update.

Read More: Best CS:GO Maps for Matchmaking

Counter Strike 2 is Really Happening!

As everyone speculated, CS2 won’t be a completely new game. However, there will be significant changes or, to be more specific, “improvements” to the game.

First of all, in Counter Strike 2, the maps, such as Mirage and Dust II, will be getting a new makeover. The resources will be transferred to the Source 2 engine to make the game look more beautiful and responsive.

On the other hand, Valve will also upgrade some of the maps, such as Nuke and Ancient. These maps will use the Source 2 engine’s “physically based rendering system that produces realistic materials’ lighting and reflections.”

Finally, the older maps that hadn’t been getting much attention will go through a complete overhaul by “leveraging the Source 2’s tools and rendering features.”

But hold on, that’s not all. Valve is also changing some important stuff too! The smoke in Counter Strike 2 will work completely differently compared to the original CS:GO. Valve is calling it “Responsive Smoke.”

“Smoke Grenades now create volumetric 3D objects that live in the world. Now, not only do all players see the same smoke regardless of position, but the smoke can interact with the environment in interesting ways. It reacts to lighting. Grows to fill spaces naturally. The shape of the smoke cloud can be pushed and carved by bullets and grenades.”

What about the server tick rate? Don’t worry! Valve has it all planned out. For Counter Strike 2, Valve is implementing a subtick system that goes beyond the 128-tick rate server system used traditionally by FACEIT or VALORANT. So, every command you send to the server through your mouse click or keyboard press will respond faster than anything else.

Read More: Counter Strike 2 is Right Around the Corner and is Real

The post Valve Has Officially Revealed Counter Strike 2 appeared first on GameRiv.

CS:GO Source 2 is a highly anticipated update that the Counter-Strike community has been waiting for ages. Like many other features, such as fluid movement and better visuals, the community expects 128 tick servers from the latest update.

CS:GO’s rival game VALORANT also implements 128 tick rate servers within their matchmaking system, making the gameplay more fluid than official Valve CS:GO servers offering only up to 64 tick rates.

Although playing on 128-tick servers through a third-party platform such as FACEIT or community servers is possible, playing on official servers is much more convenient. So, it is something that players want Valve to release alongside Source 2.

Read More: More Counter Strike 2 Leaks Lead to Believe CS:GO Source 2 is Just Weeks Away!

CS:GO Source 2 Might Introduce a Variable Tick Rate System

Gabe Follower, a popular data miner in the Counter-Strike community, found new information related to the potential CS:GO Source 2 update. According to the leaker, CS:GO Source 2 might not introduce the traditional 128 tick rate servers found in FACEIT or VALORANT.

Instead, the new update will allegedly introduce a new “Tickless/ Subtick System,” which appears to be a variable tick rate system. Meaning the server might not always operate at the maximum tick rate. Instead, the server will only operate at a 128-tick rate when player movement or action is detected.

However, Richard Lewis’s article mentioned that Counter Strike 2 will have 128 tick rate servers, and “this feature would likely be ready at the launch of the beta.” So, it is still unclear how Valve is planning to implement the new tick rate system in CS:GO Source 2. Nonetheless, without experiencing the game firsthand, it can’t be said for certain how good the “Tickless/ Subtick System” will be.

Read More: Best Weapons in CS:GO 2023: Ranked from Worst to Best

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Despite the new engine’s availability, CS:GO had been running on the same old Source engine since 2012, whereas Dota integrated Source 2 upon its release. As a result, CS:GO Source 2 has been a highly-anticipated update to the Counter-Strike community for a long time.

However, the long-awaited waiting is most likely ending with all the leaks and rumors coming out from the dark and giving players a new glimmer of light. Only a few days back, we got some crucial information about Counter-Strike 2’s potential launch, and now, more leaks are overflowing the CS community.

Read More: Counter Strike 2 is Right Around the Corner and is Real!

CS:GO 2 Beta Might be Only a Few Weeks Away!

The CS:GO Source 2 leaks started appearing in early July 2022. However, no factual evidence was there to prove it was related to an upcoming CS:GO 2 operations. Nonetheless, a recent article from Richard Lewis set the Counter-Strike community in detective mode.

Moreover, Gabe Follower, a leaker in the CS community, has continuously been sharing Source 2-related leaks, leading everyone to believe CS:GO Source 2 is just weeks away and is ready to go live.

Apparently, Gaben Follower found some code lines from the latest Dota 2 update. But what do these codes mean?

According to Bubfusion‘s comment in the thread, “These are lines from Dota 2 files. Dota 2 is built on the source 2 engine. That means any reference to CSGO within Dota files references the S2 port. There are a lot of them in the newest D2 update which are leaks. We can see some features that are referenced. Means S2 port soon.”

So, are we really getting Counter Strike 2 or CS:GO 2 with the latest Source engine? It seems more likely than ever. Regardless, it is too soon to confirm anything without an official announcement from Valve. Until then, one can only speculate.

Read More: Best Weapons in CS:GO 2023: Ranked from Worst to Best

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Since CS: GO‘s release, the game has gone through multiple updates making the game a little better than the previous version. However, the fundamentals of the game and the Source engine remained the same, despite of Source 2 engine’s availability.

Since then, the Counter Strike community has been waiting for the Source 2 engine to be implemented into the game. There were countless instances where it seemed like Source 2 would release very soon, but it never happened.

The hopium for the release of Source 2 has grown to the point that it has become a “meme” anytime there is news or optimism in this regard. Nonetheless, there have been multiple occasions since late 2022 when data miners and leakers have discovered valuable information concerning secret Counter Strike operations that are currently being worked on, giving players new hope. And, this time, it might be for real!

Read More: Best Wireless Mouse for CSGO

Counter Strike 2 is “About Ready to Go”

Early in July 2022, data miners discovered that certain maps were being tested on the game using the “S2” code, which stands for Source 2. This discovery set off the major hopium train. Also, CS: GO developers were seen testing those servers within the game.

Many thought that the 10-year anniversary of CS:GO would see the debut of Counter Strike 2. However, that never happened, and things went quiet for some time. And just recently, the hype was once again brought back to life in the community when Valve changed its official CS:GO Twitter banner to only “Counter Strike.”

Nonetheless, Valve played around with the banner similarly in late 2022. Although it had no deep meaning, many noticed this simple change. After that, on March 1, Gabe Follower, a popular leaker in CS:GO community, shared some insights related to the newest NVIDIA driver support for two new executables, “csgos2.exe” and “cs2.exe”

Even if we remove all the rumors, leaks, and speculations from the equations, the news shared by Richard Lewis, a reputable eSports journalist in the community, may convince us that Counter Strike 2 is actually happening.

Richard got some crucial information related to Counter Strike 2 from anonymous sources that have direct link to the game’s development,

“Indeed there was a new version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on its way and that had been worked on for some time. The new version is almost certainly set to be released under the working title Counter-Strike 2 and the tentative release date for the beta is in this month of March with April 1st at the outside.”

According to Richard Lewis, the sources confirmed that Counter Strike 2 would be on Source 2 engine, and the servers would be 128 tick similar to FACEIT and VALORANT. The sources also mentioned that the game is “about ready to go,” and has already been tested by some professional players that were flown out in secret to Valve’s headquarters in Seattle.

Read More: Popular CSGO Skin Trading Website Gets Hacked, $6 Million Worth Of Skins Have Been Stolen

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