We’re on the verge of CS2‘s release this summer and nearly celebrating CS:GO‘s 10-year birthday—and Valve is yet to figure out how to make the M249, the game’s expensive weapon, at least somewhat usable. The developers, however, are in luck as some fans underlined what they could do with the M249.
This machine gun costs $5200 on CS:GO, $450 more than the AWP. Contrary to the powerful sniper rifle though, buying the M249 is essentially a throw. Players only buy the M249 when they’re owning the other team or when they’re losing so hard that it doesn’t matter anymore.
The reason the M249 is not viable in competitive games is that it is so heavy that it makes strafing nearly impossible. On top of that, the spray pattern gets too random after you fire the first few bullets, and with a rate of fire of 750 bullets per minute, it’s almost impossible to aim.
Some fans think it could still have a place in the game though, and came up with reasonable thoughts on how to properly balance the M249 without making it overpowered on the CS:GO subreddit.
“Tbh [to be honest] I’d like to see it stay expensive and slow, but be more accurate and controllable, this would give it a purpose on CT side as an anchor’s luxury purchase while winning,” one Redditor wrote on June 26. “Yeah turn down the fire rate from 12 to 10 but making it more manageable to use would be a nice change, makes it feel powerful and not the jank shooter 3000,” another Redditor wrote.
This change would allow anchor players—the ones who take care of bombsites solo or stay after the teammates rotate—to sit in a good position and get a multi-kill if the Terrorists raid their bombsite. It could be used in places like Mirage‘s B Apartments, Inferno‘s A Coffins, or Dust II‘s B Plat.
While this change could be good for CS2, there are players who want the M249 to stay as is—a weapon you buy only to bully opponents.
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“I think it has a place in the game exactly the way it is now: It is the optimal weapon to straight-up bully your opponents,” one Redditor that doesn’t want to see changes wrote. “Nothing shows disrespect more than buying the M249 and actually getting kills with it.”
The M249, however, will rarely see game time in CS2 unless Valve buffs it. The developers introduced interchangeable weapon loadouts for CS2 in June, and players will have to select just 15 weapons before heading to a match. With so many pistols, rifles, and SMGs to carry, the M249 will most likely be left behind in competitive matches.
