After years of leaks and rumors of a CS:GO version on the source engine, NVIDIA driver update files in late February showed the csgos2 executable.
This is the first concrete indication of a Source 2 upgrade for Counter-Strike, with the final entry in the series, Global Offensive, released in 2012.
A beta version of Counter-Strike 2, using the updated Source 2 engine, will be released earlier this month.
Counter-Strike 2 appears to be “out of the box”, with beta scheduled for March 2023, April 1 at the latest.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources with knowledge of the game’s development told Richard Lewis that Counter-Strike’s Source 2 version used to be a priority for Valve, with one saying : “The biggest priority is to take it out and then edit it, fix all the bugs and bring it up to the level people expect from CS.
Counter-Strike’s Source Version 2 will apparently have 128 tick servers at launch, a feature highly requested by CSGO players. In addition, an improved matchmaking system is planned to reduce the need for “third-party” intermediaries such as FACEIT and ESEA.
Sources say a team of professional gamers tested the game at Valve’s headquarters in Seattle.