Valve Release CS2, Major Esports Organizers Sticking to CS:GO
After over 6 months of waiting and a week filled with tension and excitement, CS2 has finally been released, replacing its long-standing predecessor CS:GO.
The game’s beta version went live on Mar. 22, 2023 being available for only a select pool of players.
Since then, Valve made sure to listen to all the feedback provided by the community and continued to update the game in line with their vision.
Sep. 27, 2023 marks the end of an era, as CS2 officially replaced CS:GO as Counter-Strike’s main title.
Speculation amidst CS2 release
The day of CS2’s full release was filled with speculations, largely due to Counter-Strike’s official X account teasing the game’s release by changing their profile banner and retweeting posts from members of the community.
On top of that, numerous Counter-Strike personalities published heartfelt posts about what CS:GO meant to them and saying their final goodbyes to the game.
Read also: CS:GO News Roundup
Counter-Strike Esports Future
Looking ahead, it is uncertain whether the Counter-Strike esports scene’s shift to CS2 will be immediate. Most likely, the first S-Tier CSGO tournament to come after the switch will be the returning to the ESL Pro Tour, IEM Sydney.
The timing of CS2’s full release is interesting to say the least, as it fell right in the middle of the ESL Pro League S18 Playoff stage. Despite the hype surrounding CS2’s release, ESL has announced that the EPL S18 playoffs will finish on CS:GO, in order to preserve the integrity of the tournament. This makes perfect sense given the potential risk associated with this changeover to CS2. For CSGO betting, a fair and transparent betting environment is critical.
Moreover, BLAST have stated that the BLAST Fall Showdown, which begins on Oct. 4, will be played on CS:GO. The tournament organizer intends to shift to CS2 in time for their BLAST Fall Finals event in Copenhagen in Nov. 2023.
