The Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test also known as the Counter-Strike 2 Beta is a pre-retail version of Counter-Strike 2 available from March 22, 2023 until the full retail release of the game on September 27, 2023.
Availability
The Limited Test version was closed and available only to a select number of players. Participants were chosen based on several factors considered important by the Counter-Strike 2 development team, including (but not limited to) recent playtime on Valve's official servers, trust factor, and Steam account standing.[1] Players selected to participate in the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test received a notification in the main menu of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
On August 31, 2023, the process of inviting as many eligible players as possible to the Limited Test began.[2] To qualify for a CS2 Limited Test invite, players needed to have CS:GO Prime status, an active official competitive matchmaking Skill Group, and primarily play official matchmaking games in one of the regions where the Limited Test was available.
Weapons and equipment
All weapons previously used in the Competitive and Deathmatch modes of Global Offensive have been carried over to Counter-Strike 2 with enhanced, more detailed models. Additionally, cosmetic items such as weapon finishes, stickers, and knives were also transferred.[1] However, most skins retained the CS:GO versions of the weapon models.
Game modes
There were only five ways to play the Counter-Strike 2 limited beta:
- Unranked Competitive
- Deathmatch
- Casual (Added on June 29, 2023)
- Unranked Wingman (Added on July 17, 2023)
- Premier (Added on August 31, 2023)
Official Maps
In the Limited Test, maps were released at indefinite intervals. Once released, the maps were tested on official servers to gather community feedback on various shortcomings that needed to be addressed in future patches. Once the Counter-Strike 2 development team determined that a map had been sufficiently improved, it was replaced on the official servers with a new one.
Bomb Defusal
- Dust II
- Mirage (Added on June 6, 2023)
- Nuke (Added on June 29, 2023)
- Overpass (Added on July 17, 2023)
- Vertigo (Added on July 17, 2023)
- Ancient (Added on August 2, 2023)
- Anubis (Added on August 2, 2023)
- Inferno (Added on August 31, 2023)
Hostage Rescue
- Office (Added on June 29, 2023)
- Italy (Added on August 15, 2023)
Wingman
- Overpass (Bombsite B) (Added on July 17, 2023)
- Nuke (Bombsite B) (Added on August 17, 2023)
- Vertigo (Bombsite B) (Added on August 17, 2023)
- Inferno (Bombsite A) (Added on August 31, 2023)
Factions
Unlike Global Offensive, the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test did not include map-based factions. Instead, only two factions appeared on all maps by default: the SAS for Counter-Terrorists and the Phoenix Connexion for Terrorists. However, it was possible to replace the default faction models with Agents.
Counter-Strike 2 featured a total of thirteen unique factions:
Terrorists |
Counter-Terrorists |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 | Steam - Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test F.A.Qs
- ↑ Counter-Strike 2 Steam announcement - Your Time is Now
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