Counter-Strike 2 early access is well underway, with the majority of the player base thoroughly enjoying the new features and changes. As we move closer to the release of the full game, questions are now circulating around the first major in CS2 and when we can expect to see the pros going all out to win the first title in this new version of Counter-Strike.
Here’s all you need to know about the first Counter-Strike 2 Major…
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PGL Copenhagen 2024
As of now, the first planned CS2 Major is set for March 2024. This is not that far away considering Counter-Strike 2 hasn’t fully released yet. PGL Copenhagen 2024 will be the first to host the new title from Valve, but is this the end of CS:GO? Most likely, yes. Valve is looking to move all their efforts towards CS2 with PGL Copenhagen being the turning point for the series in Esports.
Although the tournament in 2024 will be the first time CS2 is played in a “Major” tournament, recently we got a look at the pros competing at a high level during some smaller events.
Recent Counter-Strike 2 Tournaments
The “first” Counter-Strike 2 tournament took place back in March of this year during a Show Match at the ESL Pro League. This match saw pros from ENCE and Heroic playing alongside each other with some other familiar faces. Although this wasn’t particularly competitive, it gives us a good idea of what we can expect from the PGL Copenhagen tournament next year.
Other recent Counter-Strike 2 tournaments include:
- The World vs Brazil
- SteelSeries CS2: Legends vs Champions 2023
- Team USA vs The Universe
Making the Transition
With the first Major set for March 2024 a lot of Global Offensive players are wondering what will happen to the game once CS2 releases. Unfortunately, there is no official news available now. However, Valve stated that CS2 will be a “free upgrade” to CS:GO. This wording suggests that Global Offensive will be replaced with CS2 when the game launches.
Additionally, the same can be said for tournaments and majors. As soon as CS2 releases, we are unlikely to see any competitive tournaments held in CS:GO as the game will be replaced with Counter-Strike 2.
Counter-Strike 2 Release Date
Although we don’t have a solid date as of yet, we can expect to see Counter-Strike 2 release very soon. The original post from Valve stated that the game will be released in “Summer 2023” which could mean as late as September 30th with the winter season starting on October 1st. With more and more players getting access to CS2 it seems Valve is on track to meet this date, however, we can expect to see delays if the developers are not happy with the state of the game.
As a great man once said, “A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is bad forever”. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of AAA titles release too soon, trying to capitalise on certain holiday periods. It’s clear Valve wants to make CS2 as good as possible with updates every week based on community feedback and internal testing.
