Counter-Strike 2 is out now with full free-to-play launch

thesixthaxis.com:

Valve has launched Counter-Strike 2, marking the start of a new era for the competitive tactical first person shooter. The game is now available as a free-to-play game via Steam, a free upgrade and full replacement to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – CS:GO is no longer playable.

While Counter-Strike 2 could be considered a remake in many respects, the game is a ground-up rebuild of the popular online FPS, making the jump to Valve’s Source 2 game engine and bringing deep technical upgrades to the experience. The new game engine has allowed for things like a new ‘sub-tick’ networking architecture, while the physically-based rendering allows for improved and more accurate audio, and new smoke grenades that create volumetric clouds that will react to gunfire and explosions, and are consistent and shared for all players.

As much as things have changed in the background, an awful lot of the game will be familiar to long-time players with many fan favourite maps being brought forward (remade with new lighting and tweaked for better visuals and gameplay flow), the same good old game modes, and more.

New players will be able to learn the basics through offline training, then hop into Casual and Deathmatch and unlock Competitive matchmaking, but existing CS:GO players will be able to dive straight into the good stuff.

Counter-Strike 2 going free-to-play makes a lot of sense in this day and age, but there is a wrinkle to this with the revamped Premier mode, in which players work to build up a new CS Rating. Premier mode is only accessible to players who have purchased Prime – a £12 upgrade – and have reached level 10. Those who have Prime Status are matched with other players that have Prime Status and will receive exclusive souvenir