Pro Counter-Strike 2 player slams the game live on camera
Counter-Strike 2 has barely been released and already the first offline events are taking place. However, the lack of polish is shining through with pro players taking notice.
17th Oct 2023 16:35
Image via ESL
Pro Counter-Strike 2 player slams the game live on camera
Counter-Strike 2 has barely been released and already the first offline events are taking place. However, the lack of polish is shining through with pro players taking notice.
17th Oct 2023 16:35
Image via ESL
IEM Sydney marks the first offline event of Counter-Strike 2. While that should be a cause for celebration, some of its participants doubt whether it is competitively ready.
During a live interview, ENCE’s Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer spoke candidly about CS’ new version. "The game is in such a bad state that it’s actually hard to play it on a high level," the Danish in-game leader stated in a broadcast interview.
What’s the problem?
For the most part, Valve appears to have tried to introduce only slight changes to Counter-Strike 2 over its predecessor, Global Offensive. From a gameplay perspective, only the behaviour of smoke grenades appeared to be intended to be changed, with the core gameplay experience remaining largely intact.
That said, some perhaps unintended changes have been located and communicated by the CS community. According to Snappi, the movement of CS2 has become an issue to the point that "it doesn't feel like CS at the moment."
Despite the situation, the team captain said that his team is still keeping a winner's mentality, saying that they are willing to work with what they have and that they are "trying to abuse everything we can."
Nevertheless, he hopes for changes sooner rather than later: "I hope that Valve is fast." Even against the interviewer's best intentions to divert from the topic, Snappi kept to the point.
When asked what can be expected from the number three ranked team G2 facing off against the second-ranked team in ENCE, he answered "a lot of randomness," with a cheeky smirk.
He's not the only one
Over the last several weeks, since pro players have been able to get their hands on Counter-Strike 2, some competitors have been vocal about the problems they see in the new version.
In a Tweet, Ukrainian superstar Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev addressed his fellow CS players directly, writing: "I can clearly tell that if you want to become CS2 pro you still have 3 months, don't play this s#!t game rn, wait for updates."
Under the reddit thread about Snappi’s comments, FaZe player Robin "ropz" Kool agreed, stating that not even the change in environment did not contribute to a better gameplay feel, sharing that "there is barely a difference LAN vs Online."
There is about half a year left before the first Major in Counter-Strike 2 kicks off at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen hosted by PGL. Whether pro players will need to adapt to the changes or if Valve will act on the complaints remains to be seen.
About The Author
Sascha Heinisch
Sascha "Yiska" Heinisch is a Senior Esports Journalist at GGRecon. He's been creating content in esports for over 10 years, starting with Warcraft 3.
