Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test

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, available only to a certain number of players. The participants were selected based on a number of factors deemed important by the Counter-Strike 2 development team, including (but not limited to) recent playtime on Valve official servers, trust factor, and Steam account standing.^[1] Players selected to participate in the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test received a notification on 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 has began.^[2] To be eligible for a CS2 Limited Test invite players must have CS:GO Prime status, an active official competitive matchmaking Skill Group, and play majority of their official matchmaking games in one of the regions where the Limited Test is available.

Weapons and equipment

All weapons that were used in the competitive and deathmatch modes in CS:GO have been transferred to Counter-Strike 2 with more detailed models. Along with them, cosmetic items such as weapon finishes, stickers and knifes were ported,^[1] though most skins used older versions of the models.

• Knives
• Pistols
• SMGs
• Rifles
• Heavy
• Grenades
• Equipment

Stock Knife (CT)

Stock Knife (T)

Bayonet

Butterfly Knife

Falchion Knife

Flip Knife

Gut Knife

Huntsman Knife

Karambit

M9 Bayonet

Shadow Daggers

Bowie Knife

Ursus Knife

Navaja Knife

Stiletto Knife

Talon Knife

Classic Knife

Skeleton Knife

Paracord Knife

Survival Knife

Nomad Knife

P2000 (CT)

USP-S (CT)

Glock-18 (T)

P250

Five-SeveN (CT)

Tec-9 (T)

CZ75-Auto

Dual Berettas

Desert Eagle

R8 Revolver

MP9 (CT)

MAC-10 (T)

PP-Bizon

MP7

UMP-45

P90

MP5-SD

FAMAS (CT)

Galil AR (T)

M4A4 (CT)

M4A1-S (CT)

AK-47 (T)

AUG (CT)

SG 553 (T)

SSG 08

AWP

SCAR-20 (CT)

G3SG1 (T)

Nova

XM1014

MAG-7 (CT)

Sawed-Off (T)

M249

Negev

HE Grenade

Flashbang

Smoke Grenade

Decoy Grenade

Molotov (T)

Incendiary Grenade (CT)

Kevlar Vest

Kevlar + Helmet

Zeus x27

C4 Explosive (T)

Defuse Kit/Rescue Kit (CT)

Medi-Shot (Deathmatch only)

Game modes

There were only four ways to play the Counter-Strike 2 limited beta:

• Unranked Competitive
• Deathmatch
• Casual (Added on June 29, 2023)
• Wingman (Added on July 17, 2023)

Official Maps

In the Limited Test, maps were released after an indefinite period of time. After the release, the map was tested on official servers to receive community feedback on its various shortcomings, which should be fixed in the future patches. After the developers consider that the map has been fixed, 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, Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test did not feature map-based factions, instead only two factions appeared on all maps by default - SAS for Counter-Terrorists and Phoenix Connexion for Terrorists. However, it was possible to replace the default faction models with the Agents.

Counter-Strike 2 featured a total of thirteen unique factions:

References