Counter-Strike 2 release date possibly hinted at by Valve

Cheeky as always

As if 2023 wasn’t already packed enough with releases of fantastic video games, we may even experience an absolute rarity in the industry: the launch of a new game by Valve. We are talking, of course, about Counter-Strike 2, which is currently available for a select user base to try out in the Counter-Strike 2 playtest. On September 20, 2023, Valve asked on social media: “What are you doing next Wednesday?”

The company added a screenshot of that post to the banner above the Counter-Strike account there, reinforcing the hint. While Valve has been known to troll followers and be cheeky on social media, this sure seems like a real hint at the Counter-Strike 2 release date, which would fall on September 27, 2023, if the upcoming Wednesday would indeed be the day of launch.

What are you doing next Wednesday?

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) September 20, 2023

Fans of the hardcore tactical first-person shooter are up in a frenzy due to this post in any case.

CS2 will feature several new mechanics differentiating it from previous versions of the popular series, but keeps its main mechanics intact. Players will be able to keep their items from current iteration Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in CS2, an important point for a community that’s big time into skins. Speaking of the devil: Grenade skins will be one of the additions to the fresh title, giving players another thing to customize themselves with – and Valve another avenue of profit.

Valve also remedied one of its greatest crimes present in CS:GO by taking out the awful buying wheel, which was initially put in due to the game being released on consoles as well. For CS2, the developers implemented a proper buying menu and added the option to refund weapons in a match. This was one of the changes fans clamored for the most over the years. Alongside these changes, CS2 features sub-tick servers that will make playing online even better and give more integrity to online competitions. Smoke mechanics have been reworked as well, which is one the biggest mechanical and gameplay changes found in CS2.

CS2 will replace CS:GO, being a Source 2 upgrade of the game released in 2012. Valve said that the release of the game would fall into the Summer 2023 window, so a launch towards the end of September would fulfill that promise, albeit cut things a little bit close. 

It’ll be a free-to-play game available on PC via Steam.