Saturday morning starts not with coffee, but with new information about Counter-Strike 2 from Gabe Follower!
- The second wave of invites has covered more people than last time. The principle and algorithm by which they are sent are still unknown.
- It’s unlikely that CS2 will be released on July 15 (this date was mentioned in the trailer). Judging by the phenomenon of Valve Time, the game could come out in the fall or at the end of the year.
- Empty slots in the purchase menu may hint at the appearance of new types of grenades or grenade skins. The developers also jokingly hinted at the appearance of a grenade launcher, which was also found in the game files.
- At the moment, one cosmetic item is guaranteed to be known—a pet. It already has a placeholder for a separate capsule and a slot in the interface at the level of knives, gloves, and graffiti.
- The third map in the CS2 map pool is expected to be Nuke. The developers have left a placeholder for selecting this location in the main menu.
The creators of Counter-Strike 2 are back to work and will delight us with new features appearing almost every few days. After a two-month break, they released a huge update that completely changes the game meta and opens up huge prospects for the future. Hello everyone, Maxim is back on the mic. I’ve spent several days studying all the files of the new update in detail, and today I’ll tell you what to expect in the future.
Before we start, don’t forget to hit the like button, leave a few meaningful comments, and subscribe to the channel. This really helps promote the video. So, let’s start small. Last Friday, we were finally informed about the second wave of invites for testing CS2. While the exact numbers and principles of sending these invites remain a mystery, I have a feeling that more people got in this time than last time. In addition, the developers have changed the logic of case drops. Now a case will drop only once a week when leveling up, not randomly when you are in AFK mode. Apparently, this is done to combat bot farms, but the question arises: if the case drop algorithm is known in advance, won’t this make it easier for speculators?
In my opinion, this is a somewhat strange decision, and to avoid manipulation, the total number of cases should be increased. On May 30, Valve’s official account on the HackerOne platform published a new policy, according to which, from June 14, all messages about vulnerabilities found in CS:GO become irrelevant and are no longer taken into account.
In addition, in one of the demonstration videos announcing Counter-Strike 2, the phrase ‘I think we should do this 7-15’ appears in several frames, which presumably hints at July 15. However, in my opinion, neither the first nor the second date probably means anything. Valve very rarely plans specific dates in advance. If we look at the calendar, July 15 falls on a Sunday, and another trailer also flashes March 15, which does not correspond to the chronology.
Judging by the phenomenon of ‘Valve Time,’ the promise of a summer release could mean either fall or the end of the year. So predicting what and when the developers plan is very difficult. Considering that they continue to use waves of invites, the closed beta version may take a long time. However, it is encouraging that the developers have decided not to reveal all their cards at once, and if many of us thought that the innovations would be limited to new smokes and improved graphics, no one expected such drastic changes in the purchase menu and equipment.
In fact, this is the first time in the history of competitive Counter-Strike that developers are changing such a fundamental game mechanic. But most importantly, this opens up opportunities for adding new weapons. After all, in the original purchase system, there was no room for new weapons, as all slots were already occupied by other items. The new system introduces an infinite variety of variations, and you can add as many new types of weapons as you like.
See for yourself: the CT team has many options for replacements, while the terrorists have only one starting pistol and one main assault rifle, as well as an empty equipment slot where the opposing team has defuse kits. These inactive slots for equipment and grenades look quite suspicious, considering that we already know about Zeus skin support, and the developers have provided the community with all the necessary materials and tools for creating cosmetic items for the taser.
Therefore, items in these slots can be changed just like weapons. This is also confirmed in the interface code, as these slots are no different from weapon slots, and other items can also be dragged into them. However, the question arises, do the developers plan new types of grenades, which we heard about a few months ago, or will these be grenade skins, like colored smoke? One of the new items could be a grenade launcher. The developers jokingly hinted at this on the official Twitter account. But it’s important to note that many years ago, in one of the updates, MK2 grenades were mentioned, which are used in real life in under-barrel grenade launchers. And in early September 2022, in the Dota 2 update, a line appeared +GrenadeLauncher.Fire_Sticky.
When I first saw this line, I thought it belonged to some other game, but considering that a grenade launcher had already been used in the Counter-Strike: Condition Zero campaign, it’s unclear whether this is a joke or not, as a grenade launcher could be an interesting addition to the Danger Zone mode.
That’s all I could find in the Counter-Strike 2 update files. I hope you found it interesting to hear about all these changes. If you have any thoughts or assumptions, leave your comments below. Thanks for watching, don’t forget to like, subscribe to the channel, and see you next time
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