Counter-Strike: Global Offensive beta delayed, release when 'it's ready'

Both the closed beta and the launch of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have been delayed due to the feedback of professional CS 1.6 players.

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Apparently, some professional Counter-Strike 1.6 players apparently don't feel that the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is quite ready for prime-time, yet. Based on the feedback they've received, Valve has elected to delay the 10,000-person closed beta for the game, which was originally planned to launch in October.

Valve's Chet Faliszek didn't have a new date for the closed beta to share, but when it finally does launch, the core focus will to be address any hardware compatibility issues that come to light. "The biggest thing of those first 10,000 is we have to look at percentage of crashes. You can argue with us on bullet-spray patterns and all kind of things, but crashes? There's really no argument for that. It shouldn't be happening."

Faliszek told Eurogamer that the closed beta will only include one or two maps. Sixteen maps are promised at launch, including eight classic maps and eight "Gun Game" maps. He also explained that the beta ends, "When the community tells us. It ends when it's ready." That said, the beta will continue to be refined, updated, and include more users until everyone is playing the final release.

As one would expect, the delay ultimately impacts the projected release window, which has been "early 2012," up to this point. Extra game modes--like zombie and deathmatch--are expected to arrive post-launch.

"We have no mandate from anybody of when we have to ship this," Faliszek explained. "So we're more than happy to just keep working on this 'til it's ready to ship."

From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 31, 2011 1:15 PM

    Jeff Mattas posted a new article, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive beta delayed, release when 'it's ready'.

    Both the closed beta and the launch of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have been delayed due to the feedback of professional CS 1.6 players.

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      October 31, 2011 1:25 PM

      Please tell me I didn't read "zombie" in an article about CS.

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        October 31, 2011 1:31 PM

        I think you did. Seems stupid to me considering they have L4D for that stuff. If you want something like that they should at least go with an Alien invasion or something. Oooh or GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS. Optionally, communist.

        • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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          October 31, 2011 2:06 PM

          :? Not sure if serious. Zombie mods in Counter-Strike were the original inspiration for L4D.

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            October 31, 2011 4:27 PM

            Who hasn't played one man versus 16 bots with only knives?

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            October 31, 2011 8:34 PM

            Never got into the mod scene. I still say it seems stupid to do a zombie gametype when they have L4D. Why not try something new?

            That's kinda my problem with Valve right now. They've got everything down to a science and they're doing all this feedback with 1.6 players and frankly they don't seem to have the balls to try to do anything new anymore. Maybe they never really did. Portal, L4D, Dota, Alien Swarm, TF, CS, DoD were all developed or inspired by others. Valve certainly put their time in, I'm not trying to take that away from them, but instead of going with CS2 they go with a remake of CS and then worry about what 1.6 players think. That'd be like DICE giving a shit what BF1942 players think of BF3 on the time between the 2 games is even longer. TF2 was original. I'll take that part back. And look how successful that was. I'm sure CS:GO will do fine, but as far as Valve games go, I'm gonna bet on a "flop" (relatively speaking).

            Love it or hate, Steam is the place for the very popular Call of Duty series. There's also BF3 out there and tons of other "tactical" or tactical-like games out there. What is CS:GO offering that other iterations of CS or these other popular series aren't? Honestly, I don't see anything to be excited about. Remakes of maps? Official gun game and zombie mode? Come on...

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              October 31, 2011 8:59 PM

              Except none of the BF titles have been inducted into the competitive gaming scene much less actually mold the competitive market like CS did. These are two different games and CS is a subset of the online FPS genre all its own.

              I've stated below why this makes sense for the comp scene and why it does for Valve too. This for the most part is a calling to gradually upgrade what that hardcore CS crowd would want in a modern CS for their market. You guys really need to stop the withe BF comparisons. Because it's not the same. At all.

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                October 31, 2011 9:13 PM

                I could put any game series in there. I just chose that one because it was recent and had longevity.

                It doesn't matter, if Valve actually created a good CS2 then players from 1.6 would move over. It's so upsetting to see them lose sight of something grander because they're trying to appease an older crowd.They could do competition play with a new original iteration of the game too. They're not doing that though. When they made TF2 they didn't really look to TF players. They did something new and it turned out great.

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          October 31, 2011 2:09 PM

          Seems pretty clear that it's the popular zombie gametype they're talking about, which is drastically different from anything L4D has ever done or will likely every do.

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            October 31, 2011 2:22 PM

            Yeah, and its been around since before L4D

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              November 1, 2011 9:40 AM

              COD WAW was first COD with zombies and it came out 2 days before L4D........ your right, COD obviously introduced the zombie game type.
              (and lets just ignore all the other horde/survival game types that other games had before either one of these as well....)

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        October 31, 2011 3:06 PM

        I love CS, it's probably my favorite game of all time. I've never gotten into the CS mods, so I was unaware there's a zombie version.

        That being said, I'm ultimately very pleased to see how they're involving the pro players on this. My only hope is that the fps genre hasn't evolved beyond what CS offers. I jump in all the time but with games like BF3 out now I wonder if that's only because I'm so familiar with the game after all these years, and not because it does anything special.

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          October 31, 2011 7:33 PM

          It's funny to hear someone talk about a CS mod. I remember when it was a Quake 2 mod.

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            October 31, 2011 8:28 PM

            [deleted]

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              November 1, 2011 2:42 AM

              He's referring to AQ2.

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                November 1, 2011 2:47 AM

                If only CS were anything like AQ2! Then the past ten years of developers trying to make 'the next CS' wouldn't have left the FPS genre in such a sorry state.

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                  November 1, 2011 6:23 AM

                  AQ2 Was so much fun was faster paced than CS was. I used to play that in competitions back in the day with Urban Terror good God those were the times. I remember winning a voodoo3 16 meg and I was in heaven.

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            October 31, 2011 8:56 PM

            huh?

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      October 31, 2011 1:27 PM

      For some reason, it always warms my heart a little bit when hearing news of a Valve delay. Don't know why.

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      October 31, 2011 1:59 PM

      What I can't hear you over my Battlefield sounds Valve!!! WHAT!!! WHAAAAAAT!????????

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      October 31, 2011 2:34 PM

      "When its ready" AKA "When it looks even close to a mini game found within BF3"

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        October 31, 2011 9:04 PM

        So no to horrible BF series mouse input lag :D

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          November 1, 2011 4:36 PM

          never said it wouldnt play better :)
          But yeah the image they chose up above vs bf3 screens... its hard to compete with that

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      October 31, 2011 2:37 PM

      You know what other game was tweaked based on the opinions of "hardcore" types this year? Homefront.

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        October 31, 2011 2:39 PM

        Homefront was AWESOME!

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        October 31, 2011 2:51 PM

        I so thought you were going to say Hitler

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        October 31, 2011 4:13 PM

        homefront is actually pretty good.

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      October 31, 2011 2:38 PM

      BTW people, this is the first of the 3 big announcements.

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      October 31, 2011 2:50 PM

      Supplies!

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      October 31, 2011 2:53 PM

      [deleted]

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      October 31, 2011 3:06 PM

      They saw BF3 and had to delay that pos for years of extra work.

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        October 31, 2011 4:23 PM

        I was happy a few months back when it was announced, now, after BF3, it really does feel like an aged concept. I mean I've played CS hardcore back around 01-06. Off and on after that till this very day, I just think I'm done with it lately. I havn't played it in at least 6 months, and I dont feel the need to anymore.

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        October 31, 2011 7:46 PM

        CS and BF are completely different games. BF3 had no impact on this game

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        October 31, 2011 9:01 PM

        [deleted]

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          October 31, 2011 9:05 PM

          TF2 didn't have the same standing they're building CS:GO from though. TF2 was a 'from scratch' idea many times over.

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      October 31, 2011 3:12 PM

      [deleted]

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        October 31, 2011 3:31 PM

        Well this is who they're going for with this. They basically want to move that market to something a bit more modern. It's one of the reasons why this version is so heavily influenced by those comp players. I wonder if this is a grand scheme so when they do a full-on CS sequel this could ease those guys into it.

        It wouldn't hurt. But I could see them thinking that far ahead.

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        October 31, 2011 4:04 PM

        Part of it is attempting to provide SC2-like gameplay tweaks and framework enhancements for competitive players, such as the improved spectating mechanics and presumably the commentary/casting features being introduced with Dota 2; part of it is updating the graphics for the common folk, since even CS:S was released all the way back in 2004; and part of it is introducing CS to the current console generation, since the only time Valve's crossed that divide was with the original Counter-Strike brought over to the original Xbox in ~early 2004 (I think).

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        October 31, 2011 8:21 PM

        $$$$$$ is it that hard to understand?

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          November 1, 2011 6:28 AM

          [deleted]

          • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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            November 1, 2011 6:32 AM

            Not sure why you say that, they're trying to unify the fanbase around a more modern game. Skill-based matchmaking alone is a great feature for casuals and competitive players alike.

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        November 1, 2011 2:55 AM

        They need to do something about the client prediction in the source engine if the want the 1.6 people.

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      October 31, 2011 3:29 PM

      I would rather just see Counter Strike 3 done in some different style -- like TF2 meets GI Joe or MAD from Inspector Gadget. Really over the top villains.

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      October 31, 2011 3:57 PM

      [deleted]

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        October 31, 2011 7:39 PM

        Actually the comp community seems fairly keen to it. So I doubt it.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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        November 1, 2011 6:29 AM

        I'm looking forward to it. The CS:S shackbattle last night was a sad affair :(

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      October 31, 2011 8:14 PM

      VALVE TIME

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      October 31, 2011 8:56 PM

      [deleted]

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      November 1, 2011 6:33 AM

      PROFESSIONAL CS 1.6 PLAYERS WIN.

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      November 1, 2011 7:08 AM

      Half-Life 3 or Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Nuff' said, thank you.

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      November 1, 2011 8:40 AM

      I remember playing CS 1.6.......a MILLION YEARS AGO..

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      November 1, 2011 12:23 PM

      "We have no mandate from anybody of when we have to ship this," Faliszek explained. "So we're more than happy to just keep working on this 'til it's ready to ship." - You know, not having a target as to when a game will be released isn't always for the best. There's something to be said of time constraints and the creative juices that magically start flowing when the pressure is on.

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