Valve is neglecting Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) like an “adopted child”, according to ex-Valorant pro TenZ, as the company’s new hero-shooter MOBA Deadlock gets all the love and affection instead.
While hype in the leadup to CS2’s hotly anticipated September, 2023 launch was off the charts, it’s no exaggeration to say Valve hasn’t done all too much with the follow-up in the year since. With updates so few and far between, players have been lashing out at the lackluster patches while pro players have even claimed it’ll take another six years for the game to get good.
In the meantime, much of Valve’s attention has been elsewhere. Deadlock came out of nowhere in 2024 and although it’s still very much in early access, the hero-shooter MOBA hybrid has already been receiving mega-sized updates at a more regular cadence.
New characters have been rolled out, game-breaking issues have been fixed overnight, the map has changed a great deal, it’s all been relatively smooth sailing with constant communication from the dev team.
Acknowledging the dichotomy between the games, former CSGO star turned Valorant phenom TenZ addressed how CS2 is being left in the rearview mirror, comparing it to an “adopted child” while Deadlock gets all the attention.
TenZ seems to have no hope for Counterstrike, but thinks Gabe Newell will like Deadlock since it's a MOBA like Dota pic.twitter.com/K7VjreCwtp
— Deadlock Intel (@IntelDeadlock) September 30, 2024
“What was the reason they switched to CS2 and not do anything?” a disgruntled viewer asked during a September 30 Twitch stream clipped by Deadlock Intel. “Do they even have plans for CS2?”
Not mincing words, TenZ lashed out at the very purpose of the sequel, arguing very little of substance has come through since it’s 2023 release.
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“It was mainly porting it to the Source 2 engine,” TenZ explained before adopting a sarcastic tone. “But the other reason is so they can say they did it, and they’ve done some stuff, and work fully on Deadlock, release two full patches filled with content… Two new characters, new jungle camps, items, graphics, everything… but happy birthday Counter-Strike! It didn’t get anything.”
CS2’s one-year anniversary indeed and came and went without much cause for celebration. As a result, TenZ argued the shooter is all but being neglected in favor of Deadlock
“Valve already treated CS like it was its adopted child. TF2 is the cousin or something. Valve’s given the TF2 treatment to CS2.”
Doubling down, especially through an esports-oriented lens, TenZ went on to stress how Valve President Gabe Newell looks to be much more of a MOBA fan than a shooter fan, claiming he doesn’t care about CS since he’s never been at any major tournaments while he’s attended a bunch of Dota 2 events over the years.
We’ll just have to wait and see what Valve has in store for CS2 moving forward but with new Deadlock updates rolling out every few days, it’s clear one is certainly the favorite at this point in time.