New CS:GO match data could explain why Valve switched to MR12 in CS2

Valve decided to switch back to MR12 in Counter-Strike 2 after CS:GO was played in MR15. Many fans are wondering whether it’s a good decision or not, but the latest data could explain why the developers made it.

On Sept. 15, HLTV released an article about Valve’s supposed logic behind the move to MR12. In the article, they showcased a graph that points out how much time a full CS:GO BO3 usually takes, with commercials included. It turns out, it’s longer than football, soccer, and baseball matches, and also takes more time than VALORANT’s BO3.

The data shows CS:GO full BO3s take up around three hours and 29 minutes on average, while 2-0 series are two hours and 15 minutes long. When it comes to VALORANT, which already has MR12, its full BO3s are two hours and 51 minutes long, while 2-0 take only one hour and 44 minutes on average.

CS:GO’s runtime of three hours and 29 minutes is significantly longer than matches in some of the most popular sports across the globe as well. A football match takes around three hours and 12 minutes, while soccer lasts two hours. Basketball matches usually take two hours and 30 minutes, and Formula 1 races are around an hour and a half long.

The data has been put up by HLTV, and it was based on 38 playoff maps at 2023’s IEM Cologne, BLAST Spring Final, and BLAST.tv Paris Major, while VALORANT Champions 2023 was used to gather its match runtime.

All in all, the conclusion seems crystal clear—CS:GO BO3s are too long. Naturally, not every BO3s goes all the way to the full 30 rounds in three maps, but having an average time of three and a half hours is way too long. Viewers may get bored when spectating such matches, which could negatively impact viewership.

Besides, HLTV states that the length of games has gotten longer since the timers of the round and bomb explosion were tweaked a few years back. On top of that, since the major March 2019 update, which tweaked the economy, there are fewer eco rounds, meaning there are more rounds that take longer to finish.

Many players, experts, and pros agree MR12 is the proper way to go when looking at the future. But, a lot of them, including FaZe Clan’s ropz and Heroic’s cadiaN, also believe the economy in CS2 isn’t in a proper place to support such tweaks. Judging by our experiences with the beta, we couldn’t disagree with them.