Age-old smoke bug thought to be fixed persists in CS2 and players aren’t happy 

Marred with various issues since release, Counter-Strike 2 hasn’t been doing too well in the technical department, and now ghosts of Counter-Strike’s past have returned to haunt Valve’s flagship title. Once again, the smoke is the issue, as it refuses to extinguish Molotovs.

An upset player posted a Reddit thread on Jan. 9 showing a clip of a smoke grenade bouncing off Molotov flames as if they weren’t there. The incident happens near Tetris on Mirage, and the bug is oddly reminiscent of the olden times of CS:GO, as this issue has happened time and again in Valve’s previous iteration—though most believed it to be fixed. CS2 seems to have the odd knack of reviving bugs and issues that Valve has long eradicated from Counter-Strike, and this one is no exception.

Comparisons between the two games (if they can be called two separate games at all) have been constant since CS2 was released, and while justified, the comparisons aren’t always fair. Others replying to the thread were right to concede the seemingly impeccable and perfect CS:GO did have its own share of technical sins that have at once been forgiven by the community following the franchise’s jump to Source 2.

Valve tried to eradicate the problem from CS:GO in 2017—twice. They released updates in May and June of that year targeting the alleged temperamental smoke grenades that avoided flames like the plague. The issue seemed to be how Molotovs behaved, as they weren’t a unitary flame but one spread in several different patches. Smokes could land pixel-perfect between these patches and bounce off like nothing happened. Whether the same applies in CS2 is unknown, but it has an identical result, and can severely impact games where every action counts.

Despite Valve’s attempts, the bug remained during CS:GO‘s entire life cycle, as a ton of video and anecdotal evidence (my own experience included) proves. CS2 players have the right to express their anger. CS2 players have been begging Valve to fix this issue for ages—just like they did nearly seven years ago. It’s already been seven days, much less than seven years, but I hope Valve steps in to eradicate the issue as soon as possible.

CS2 is a lot bigger now than CS:GO was in 2017, and Valve has more of a responsibility to such an active title. For competitive shooters, any slight hiccup can make or break a match, especially when it involves crucial utilities like smokes and Molotov grenades.