What will happen to CS:GO on January 1, 2024? Details explored

CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) is one of the most popular Valve titles and leads the charge in the first-person shooter esports scene. However, the publisher has finally decided to replace the entire game with its sequel CS2 (Counter-Strike 2) to welcome a new experience with improved gameplay mechanics, visual features, and server performance.

CS:GO has provided one of the largest professional platforms for new talents to emerge and kickstarted the careers of many content creators. Since its official release in mid-2012, the game has received a list of updates that continuously aimed at creating a balanced playing field for the entire community.

Let us take a closer look as the sun sets for CS:GO and Valve arranges for a complete transfer to CS2.

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Valve decides to end official support for CS:GO

After CS2’s official release, the developers clarified that the prequel would be available in a frozen state. Therefore, you can still play the game in its legacy version till January 1, 2024, when Valve has announced that all official support for the decade-old shooter would cease. This means that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will no longer receive updates or patches from the official servers and will remain in the final version for the rest of its lifetime.

Fans can still access the game after support ends, but it will not have official matchmaking. Moreover, some CS:GO features would fail due to game client version mismatch, including online functionalities like accessing the inventory, opening cases, or watching matches.

Unfortunately, since the matchmaking servers have already shut down, you can only play against bots in the prequel. After the official developer support ends, the game will likely be completely dead, with limited functionalities like offline deathmatches at best.

Despite CS2’s rocky start, the publisher must now pave its way and carry on the success its prequel achieved. It's essential to remember that such online tactical shooters require some time before they can achieve a stable state and deliver the promised gameplay content.

Valve’s firm decision to halt all processes around Counter-Strike: Global Offensive also hints that the devs are finally ready to push the new game into the spotlight.

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How to access legacy Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam?

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive legacy version (Image via X/@cs2newsupdate || Valve Corporation)

You can access the frozen CS:GO version through your Steam account by opening the properties of Counter-Strike 2. You can then go to the Betas tab and enable the legacy version if you feel nostalgic about the good old days.

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Such a development is difficult for all CS fans to face as a large percentage of the seasoned player base grew up playing the prequel. The official end of support might seem sudden, but it is better to pour resources into CS2 as it has already replaced CS:GO in professional circuits and tournaments.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for more updates.