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Valve launched Counter-Strike 2 silently in the night between September 27 and 28, 2023, and while there were vague announcements previously, the company didn't have a massive marketing campaign running at the time.
Still, the hype around the "sequel" to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was enough to activate a bunch of players and have one of the highest concurrent player counts in a while.
In the past three months, it was only higher when CS 2 was actually announced and the playtests began.
As for what it brings to the table, it is basically an upgrade to CS:GO rather than an actual sequel. The game still has all the same modes but the main improvements are to the ranked system, smokes and the buy menu.
In the case of ranked, there is now the Premier ladder for different maps so if you are doing well on Inferno, you will be matched with players of the same skill but if you are not as good on Vertigo, you will go into a different matchmaking pool.
Smoke has been basically revamped as it now creeps around corners and through small crevices, allowing it to cover a larger area. However, small holes will temporarily appear as bullets fly through it while the explosive grenades can entirely dissipate it.
The buy menu is now more akin to that in Valorant, as it is no longer a wheel but rather a single table that has all the items in one place.
