Valve might not be able to count to three, but our favorite video game developer has done the next best thing: Counter-Strike 2. That’s right, the popular first-person shooter has a sequel. And it’s available now, for free, if you download Steam.
Valve’s tactical shooter is one of the most popular video games on the whole planet, the de facto ruler of the esports world (sorry Valorant), and an iconic part of PC gaming history. Pretty much every FPS fan has put a copy of Counter-Strike on their PC at one point or another, whether Source, 1.6, or, most likely of all, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Haven’t played CS:GO in a while, and want to get your hands on one last match before you make the jump to Counter-Strike 2? You might want to read on.
Is CS:GO shutting down?
Back in fall 2022, Activision-Blizzard launched Overwatch 2 as a complete replacement to the original Overwatch. Fans came together for one last match, tearfully saying goodbye to the iconic six-vs-six multiplayer shooter before Overwatch 1 shut down, went offline, and transitioned over to its latest iteration.
Valve decided to take the same approach with CS:GO. After teasing the game’s release for Sept. 27, Valve spent its Wednesday afternoon shutting down CS:GO’s servers and refunding the game’s CS:GO 360 subscription service. Shortly after, Valve posted Counter-Strike 2’s launch trailer, and the game went live for Steam users worldwide.
In the process, Valve completely replaced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with Counter-Strike 2. CS2 has the same Steam app ID as CS:GO, and it’s taken CS:GO’s place in your Steam library. CS2 was always intended as a full blown Source 2 engine port for CS:GO, after all.
In other words, yes, CS:GO has shut down. You can no longer play on CS:GO’s servers or use its matchmaking system. It’s dead and gone. Even third-party matchmaking services like FACEIT have completely switched over to CS2.
Well, there is one way to still play CS:GO on PC
OK, so yes, CS:GO is effectively gone. It’s not even possible to stream the game on Twitch. But Steam users do have a special work around to still access the game, provided they’re comfortable with adding some extra GBs to their hard drive for a little nostalgia.
Given Counter-Strike is a game with a storied history, and CS:GO was a major esports title in the franchise’s history, Valve still allows users to access old Counter-Strike: Global Offensive demos via the game’s demo-viewing build. You can also use this to access the game, to a certain extent.
Head on over to your Steam library, right-click Counter-Strike 2, and select “Properties.” Then click on the “Betas” tab, and under Beta Participation, select “csgo_demo_viewer.” Steam will start downloading a copy of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive built specifically for reviewing old game VODs. And yes, you can still play CS:GO this way.
It won’t replace your copy of CS2, so at any time, you can play both games.
To be clear, features are super limited in this CS:GO build. You can’t hop online and play competitive, let alone casual. But hey, you can still set up a local game and play with bots! You’ll have all your agents and skins as well. So if you want to boot up the game and play it one more time, CS:GO is still there. It’s a great way to compare some of the differences between CS:GO and Counter-Strike 2 too.
We just don’t recommend going out of your way to download the old CS:GO build, given Valve is eager to get everyone onto Counter-Strike 2 instead, and most of the features don’t work anyway.
If you’re interested in playing Counter-Strike 2, you may want to bring some friends along for your CS2 endeavors. In 2022, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive had one of the highest in-game harassment rates in the whole entire multiplayer gaming scene. Our recommendation? If you aren’t playing a competitive mode, just mute voice chat—or better yet, pull some buddies in for a private match instead.
(featured image: Valve, Remix by Ana Valens)
