CS2 player reveals massive Shader advantage the rest of us are missing out on

A Counter-Strike 2 player found that setting your shadows to high in the game’s settings allows you to see the shadows of your opponents while indoors, which can be a huge tactical advantage for those in the know.

In a short clip shared in a Nov. 14 Reddit thread, a shadow is visible even when the actual character model of the opponent isn’t shown. In a game where sound is king, players often push bomb sites while walking to make sure they aren’t heard. But being able to see enemy shadows like this may put a stop to those sneaky plays. The player wasn’t able to see the shadow with Medium/Low Global Shadow Quality, but it was immediately visible with High/Very High.

Despite this being concerning, the same option was available in CS:GO. But, as one player pointed out, it was only possible while outdoors for some reason. The problem here is that most competitive players run their games at low settings as this provides fewer distractions and more frame rates. Since this has been a standard for so long, players might have missed out on these settings, and potentially even lost games.

With this finding, CS2 players might want to turn this option on immediately, or maybe Valve should take action and balance the game. Players with better PCs shouldn’t have any advantages like this. As one player put it, it’s either everyone or nobody.