Instead of celebrating Counter-Strike 2’s first-year anniversary with new content, maps, and game modes, players are left staring at the main menu screen, wondering what Valve is up to.
As a community, we’re all too familiar with Valve’s long history of silent treatment, but the launch of a new game brought hope that things would change. Unfortunately, it seems we were wrong.
Deadlock is Coming
More than a year after its official release, CS2 is still in an unpredictable state with an uncertain future. Despite numerous updates, key issues like cheating, poor optimization, and delayed kill feedback persist, leaving fans frustrated. Meanwhile, Valve appears to be focusing its efforts on its new game, Deadlock.
What Happened to Valve’s Plans for CS2?
In an interview with PCGAMER in October 2023, Valve stated that CS2’s first year would be experimental. They claimed their plans were flexible as they responded to player needs while working on new features. However, as we enter the second year, it’s clear that Valve hasn’t been addressing urgent issues like cheating, which remains a massive drawback.
While other minor updates, like sticker placement and skin rentals, were rolled out, the much-needed improvements to the anti-cheat system have been neglected. Even though Valve began testing VacNet 3.0 in August, the game remains plagued by cheaters. It seems like Valve missed a key opportunity to correct their past mistakes from CS.
Negligence and Frustration in the Professional Scene
Valve’s handling of CS2 has even demotivated top professional players. Robin “ropz” Kool, one of the best players in the world, initially defended CS2, claiming it wasn’t as bad as people said. But a few months later, he expressed his frustration, saying, “I’d guess CS2 will be great by 2030. I’ve stopped caring… because it’s demotivating to think about.”
Another star player, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, echoed these sentiments, stating in an interview with BLAST, “I’m pretty disappointed in the development of CS2. It’s sad that with a new game we have made a step back instead of two forwards.”
Both players’ comments illustrate the general disappointment among the community. With Valve remaining silent, it’s no surprise that CS2’s future feels bleak.
Enter Deadlock: Valve’s New Focus
As CS2 struggles, Valve’s decision to release Deadlock, a third-person MOBA, feels like a slap in the face to the Counter-Strike community. While Deadlock’s development team is separate, it still stings to see resources being funneled into another project while CS2 suffers.
What’s worse is that Deadlock’s anti-cheat system is already outperforming CS2’s, even though it’s still in beta. In Deadlock, players can even vote to turn cheaters into frogs during matches — a feature that highlights how seriously Valve is taking cheating in their new title, while ignoring the same problem in CS2.
Conclusion
It’s becoming increasingly clear that CS2 may follow the same path as Team Fortress 2, a once-great game that was left to languish. Valve’s focus on Deadlock and their lack of communication with the Counter-Strike community are clear signs that the game isn’t a priority anymore.
For fans of CS2, it might be time to lower expectations and accept that Valve has moved on.
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