CS2’s release date: When did CS2 first release?

The Counter-Strike community speculated on a dozen different release dates for CS2 since the closed beta kicked off in March 2023, and it was clear quickly that everybody got it wrong.

Though the game looked like CS:GO at first glance, Valve made a lot of changes to make CS2 a unique product. Here’s everything you need to know about CS2‘s release date and what the new Counter-Strike title brings to the table.

CS2 release date, explained

After years of development behind closed doors, Counter-Strike 2 is live and released for all players on Sept. 27, 2023. Months of limited beta testing were done in the game’s lead-up to the launch, but many awoke in late September to a new era of Counter-Strike.

Before teasing the CS2 launch for Sept. 27, Valve revealed on Sept. 13 that CS2 will launch “soon.” This announcement was made through Steam’s 20th birthday page. On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the official Counter-Strike X/Twitter account asked what people were planning on doing on Wednesday, Sept. 27. This inevitably led fans to think that CS2 was to be released on that date.

Sure enough, the CS2 account on X/Twitter changed its banner to “Dawn of a New Day” on the 27th, and later, the game was pushed live. While it’s technically a new game, CS2 was applied as an update to the existing CS:GO client.

Was CS2 delayed?

CS2 wasn’t delayed (as far as we know). When the closed beta started in March, Valve said CS2 would launch in the summer of 2023, but the developer never disclosed if it was talking about summer in the U.S. or elsewhere.

Nothing about the build-up to the game’s launch in September 2023 indicated the timeframe for the game’s launch changed in any way, meaning its release pretty much landed right on schedule—which is odd given it’s Valve, but we’ll give them a pass anyway.

Differences between CS:GO and CS2

CS2 runs on the game engine Source 2, which is much more up-to-date than CS:GO’s Source 1. In theory, this should allow Valve to make deeper changes down the road and keep the game optimized for modern PCs.

Because of the Source 2 engine, CS2 is better than CS:GO in terms of graphics, and all the maps look more beautiful. The most noticeable game changes are the way smokes behave—filling an entire space and showing the same to all players, a switch to 24 rounds instead of 30 in competitive, and a new competitive matchmaking mode in the form of Premier.

On top of that, Valve also implemented a few quality-of-life changes, such as adding custom weapon loadouts—which allow players to play with the M4A4 and the M4A1-S during the same match—and a refund option in the buy menu not too dissimilar to Riot’s rival FPS VALORANT.

Since then, original CS:GO content has found its way back to the Counter-Strike sequel, like the Arms Race game mode and a few classic maps. CS2 even has its own new case of skins and a knife to unbox (if you’re lucky).

Valve remains committed to updating CS2 to ensure a smooth playing experience that matches the consistency of its prequel while providing players with new gameplay elements and content to keep it fresh.