Steam's biggest 2023 game just stealth dropped and is completely free

Counter-Strike 2 is officially here, and it’s already climbing the Steam charts as a free download.

Announced back in March 2023, Counter-Strike 2 shocked pretty much everyone, especially given Valve’s usual radio silence on future projects.

Take a look at Counter-Strike 2 below

After months of waiting and testing, it’s officially arrived on PCs via Steam. The game was shown off with a quick trailer shared on Twitter, celebrating the long history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive before giving everyone a fresh look at the next evolution of the game.

A lot has changed, most notably redesigned multiplayer maps, which have been tweaked and updated to keep long-time players on their toes. It’s also been given an impressive fresh coat of paint, looking absolutely stunning, leaps and bounds ahead of what the 2012 game originally looked like.

There are also a few new features for fans to try out, and the game is also running on a more advanced game engine.

Counter-Strike 2 runs the Source Engine 2, the same engine Valve used for Dota 2 and Half Life: Alyx. While it’s leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, Valve has made it clear that rather than a sequel, Counter-Strike 2 is more like an upgrade to the base game.

Some of the new features include the ability to refund guns purchased in the game, in case you accidentally select the wrong one at the start of a round, which is something players have been demanding for years.

Arguably the best part about the new upgrade is that it’s completely free, so if you own the original Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, you can upgrade straight away and get stuck into some matches, or play it for the first time without a purchase.