Valve has officially released Counter-Strike 2

Valve has officially released Counter-Strike 2.

The game arrives as a successor to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, allowing players to bring across their inventory from the older game.

The free-to-play title, which Valve bills as “the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history”, had been available to some Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players since March as part of a limited technical test.

Announcing the game earlier this year, Valve said it will be cleaner, brighter, and better looking. “Maps in Counter-Strike 2 are receiving upgrades and overhauls which leverage all of the new Source 2 tools and rendering features.”

It also claimed tick rate no longer matters for moving, shooting, or throwing.

“Sub-tick updates are the heart of Counter-Strike 2,” it said. “Previously, the server only evaluated the world in discrete time intervals (called ticks). Thanks to Counter-Strike 2’s sub-tick update architecture, servers know the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a ‘nade is thrown.

“As a result, regardless of tick rate, your moving and shooting will be equally responsive and your grenades will always land the same way.”

Valve said smoke grenades are now dynamic volumetric objects that interact with the environment, and react to lighting, gunfire, and explosions.

“Counter-Strike 2 sounds have been reworked to better reflect the physical environment, be more distinct, and express more game state,” it added. “They have also been rebalanced for a more comfortable listening experience.”

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hit an all-time peak concurrent player count of 1,818,773 in April, the month after Counter-Strike 2’s announcement.