The release of Counter-Strike 2 is right around the corner. Although the player base has noted numerous issues with the current early access model of the game, there are a plethora of reasons why this may not affect the previously announced Counter-Strike 2 release date of “Summer 2023”.
Here’s all you need to know…
Counter-Strike 2 Release Date
Since Valve’s official announcement back in March, little has been said about the release date of Counter-Strike 2. As we know, CS2 is set to release in “Summer 2023”. We are now getting to the tail end of this time period with September 30th technically being the last day of the Summer season.
As Valve hasn’t made an announcement yet, many players are assuming the game will be released within the next 10 days. However, a large proportion of the player base is making assumptions about a possible delay.
Counter-Strike 2 Release Date Delay?
As many players have pointed out, the early access version of CS2 can be a little buggy at times. With some hit reg issues and a lot of cheaters at the top end of the Premier ladder, the current Counter-Strike 2 experience may not live up to expectations. Although it may seem like a delay to the release of CS2 is inevitable, there are a few good reasons as to why this may not be the case.
In a recent clip from a stream, Shroud explains why the early access build is buggy and how this may not affect the release of CS2.
Shroud Explains the State of Early Access
Shroud is one of the biggest streamers on Twitch and used to play CS:GO professionally for Cloud9. During one of his streams, he explained why there are so many issues with the early access version of CS2.
Essentially, Valve is currently working on 2 different versions of the game. The first version is the early access build and the second is the full release build. The developers will use the early access version to iterate on bugs and features whilst also implementing them into the final version. This lets them keep much of the final version a secret with lots of features still yet to be announced.
It’s possible we are currently playing on a build of the game that is weeks old. This means a lot of the current issues have probably been amended and the full game will be released soon.
Early Access
If you want to play CS2 now, you’ll need to get an early access invitation. There are a few criteria to hit before this happens – here’s everything you’ll need:
- Prime status on Steam account
- Competitive rank on CS:GO
- A good Trust Factor
- Recent Playtime on Valve official servers
Prime status is easy to purchase through Steam. If you previously purchased CS:GO before the game went free-to-play, you will already have Prime. Getting a competitive rank requires players to get 10 wins. This is easy to do with a group of friends, or on your own if you can take on the challenge. Finally, having a good trust factor requires players to finish matches without leaving, and be a good teammate.
