Custom Steam Workshop maps have been a staple of Counter Strike for years. While that hasn’t changed with Counter Strike 2, this is a new game, and there are a few wrinkles to iron out. The UI doesn’t currently have a workshop-accessible window, and community server groups are no doubt working hard to get custom servers with these custom designs up and running. Until then, you may be wondering: can you play Workshop maps in CS2? It’s complicated.
Can You Play Workshop Maps in CS2? Answered
Right now, there’s no quick or easy way to load and play Workshop maps in Counter Strike 2. There’s no map selection menu or screen, nor are there many community servers with custom maps just yet. Perhaps most importantly, because CS2 uses the Source 2 engine with tons of under-the-hood upgrades and changes, Workshop maps built for CS:GO don’t even load in CS2.
As a result, you’ll need to wait until the map maker goes in and updates the map for CS2. Depending on how complicated the changes were between the old engine and the new, that could take weeks. Valve has always been good about addressing community concerns, and I have no doubt CS2 will see a flurry of updates in the near future.
How to Use Workshop Maps in Counter Strike 2
If you do want to load up a Workshop map, provided it works in Counter Strike 2, follow these steps:
- Download the map files directly from whatever site hosts them. These will be Reddit, mapmaking Discord servers, community forums, etc.
- Paste all map files into the Counter Strike 2 map directory in File Explorer.
- The default filepath is steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\game\csgo\maps if you updated directly from CS:GO. Replace Counter-Strike Global Offensive with Counter-Strike 2 and csgo with cs2 for updated installations.
- Launch Counter Strike 2 and open the console with the ~ key, then enter map %[name of the map file you want to load]%
- If any additional steps are required to load the map, they should load into the console at this point. Follow them and enjoy playing your workshop map.
That answers whether you can play Workshop maps in CS2. Until Valve implements a Workshop map menu directly into the tactical shooter, this cumbersome set of steps is the only way. In the meantime, we’ve answered many other burning CS2 questions in our guides hub for the game.
