After a test period, Counter-Strike 2 is now officially available to everyone via Steam. Essentially, it is an extensive update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which, according to Valve, brings about the biggest technical leap forward in the history of the franchise.
Counter-Strike 2 features improved lighting, textures, and map-making tools, as well as renewed maps, new visual effects, enhanced audio, “tickless servers,” and a new in-game ranking system.
At launch, Counter-Strike 2 includes the following maps: Mirage, Overpass, Vertigo, Ancient, Inferno, Nuke, Anubis, Dust 2, Office, and Italy. Players’ inventories will be transferred from CS:GO to Counter-Strike 2, and the game remains free-to-play.
Playing Counter-Strike 2 on Windows 7 can result in a ban.
Considering its successful launch breaking records in terms of player numbers, the launch did not go entirely without problems.
It seems that some core features are not working as they should, and the servers are also occasionally stuttering. In addition, there seems to be a potential problem for those playing Counter-Strike 2 on Windows 7.
Several players have reported receiving bans without good reason, and what all these players have in common is that they played the game on Windows 7. Valve has not yet responded, but several affected players have already asked for clarification, and players with a similar problem are asked to report it as well so that Valve can investigate. Sorry, but that’s just hilarious.
Recent figures show that only 0.08% of Steam users still use Windows 7. Relatively speaking, this is very few, but in practice, it still concerns tens of thousands of players. They are now advised to avoid Counter-Strike 2 for the time being, although they could, of course, also just upgrade their operating system.