Can You Still Play Counter Strike: Global Offensive After CS2 Launch? Answered

Counter Strike 2 brings updates of all kinds to Valve’s iconic and venerable shooter series. There’s a UI overhaul to map reworks, new smoke grenade mechanics, and much, much more. Many players, however, only know the franchise from its previous incarnation as Global Offensive. That somehow launched a full 10 years ago. With CS2 now the law of the land, can you still play Counter Strike: Global Offensive after the CS2 launch?

Can You Still Play Counter Strike: Global Offensive After the Launch of CS2?

Counter Strike 2 uses Global Offensive as a baseline for its mechanics, map files, weapon models, and weapon skins and knives. So no: You can’t still play Counter Strike: Global Offensive after the launch of CS2. Indeed, CS:GO is no longer available on the Steam store at all. Counter Strike 2 replaces CS:GO in all active Steam libraries.

The main difference is you’ll need to download CS2 in its entirety, a 33GB file, to play the new game. After all, CS2 brings a massively reworked lighting system, visually or structurally remade maps, and tons of engine-level upgrades that will hopefully make the game even more available to new and returning players.

Related: Can You Play CS2 on Mac? Answered

Don’t worry about all the skins, knives, and other collectibles you earned in Global Offensive, either. CS2 carries forward your entire inventory, completely free of charge. Better yet, depending on what you managed to collect in the last 10 years of Counter Strike, some of the more valuable cosmetics might even go up in price due to increased scarcity.

What’s clear is that CS2 isn’t just an update for the grizzled veterans out there. New players are more than welcome, with a whole set of playlists designed for learning and honing your skills. Heck, you can’t even jump into competitive matchmaking until you play enough matches in other playlists. The new Premiere mode will also help establish your CS Rating, so even when you do dive into the deep end, you aren’t matched with the gods of the game. Or at least not for very long.

While there’s no way you can still play Counter Strike: Global Offensive after the launch of CS2, it doesn’t seem to matter too much since your inventory carries over and the maps are similar, if not the same. For more, like if the game will be on console, click that link or head over to our guides page for Valve’s tactical shooter.