Casual mode has finally arrived in Counter-Strike 2 today to sit side-by-side with competitive matchmaking queues. Players with CS2 access (those lucky few) will now be able to mess around in a more relaxed fashion compared to its sweaty counterpart, alongside other changes in the beta’s latest update.
The classic 10-vs-10 mode was released for CS2 on June 29, paired with two beloved Global Offensive maps: Nuke and Office. Both are available for casual gameplay. Until today, competitive matchmaking has been the only playlist available.
Valve announced it was swapping Mirage for Nuke and Office via a same-day tweet. Players won’t be able to play casually on the adored map until it’s back in the rotation—but, of course, there are new maps to try.
Eager CS2 fans have been begging for a casual playlist for months, with many imploring Valve to support casual play all the way back in April 2023. A large portion of the community enjoys CS without its renowned competitive element, and Valve clearly understands this.
The addition of casual CS2 playlists should help gamers delve into the nooks and crannies of Nuke and Office as they now appear in the Source 2 engine. Players typically have a more laid-back experience in Casual, allowing plenty of opportunity to try to break the title before it’s released to the greater public.
On top of the playlist, CS2 got a host of changes in the June 29 update, including bunny-hopping tweaks, bug fixes, and the ability to inspect grenades.
After originally copping backlash from players and analysts early in the beta test, Valve eventually proclaimed its commitment to keeping movement closer to CS:GO as possible. It took them just over a week to bring tweaks along that vein.
With two new maps, odds are we’ll soon see a long list of updates as errors make their presence known. This, paired with a new mode, make that a near-certainty.
