Game history
CS2 dropped MR15 (max 30 rounds) in favour of MR12 (max 24 rounds) at launch. Pro tournaments had been testing the shorter format since the 2023 BLAST Spring Groups; CS2 codified it.
Game history
Counter-Strike started as a Half-Life mod in 1999
Counter-Strike began as a Half-Life mod by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess Cliffe. Valve picked it up in 2000 and released the standalone Counter-Strike 1.0 in 2000. Twenty-five-plus years later we're still calling them "smokes."
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Game history
CS:GO launched on August 21, 2012
CS:GO launched as a paid title on PC, Mac, Xbox 360, and PS3 — the first Counter-Strike on consoles. The PC version became free-to-play in December 2018, replaced by CS2 in September 2023.
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Game history
CS2 is the first CS built on Source 2
CS2 launched September 27, 2023 as a free upgrade replacing CS:GO. Volumetric smokes, sub-tick servers, and Source 2 lighting are the headline changes. It also retired all CSGO Operations launched after Operation Wildfire from the active duty pool.
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Game history
CS2 smokes react to bullets, HEs, and molotovs
Volumetric smokes are the headline graphical change in CS2. A single bullet can carve a temporary peek-hole through a smoke; an HE briefly clears a full smoke; molotov fire pushes the smoke up. In CS:GO smokes were a flat 2D billboard.
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