Counter-Strike 2: Valve adds Premier mode to CS2 Limited Test and opens gates to a ton of new players in the latest CS2 update

Counter-Strike 2. This game has been the buzzword in the world of FPS games, especially the fans of the Counter-Strike franchise, since it was announced in March this year. Valve has been working on the game for some time now and has now pushed out one of the biggest updates that the game has ever seen. I finally have access to CS2, the matchmaking/ranking system has been overhauled, and Inferno, one of the oldest maps in the Counter-Strike franchise, has been given a Source 2 facelift. Now, without wasting much time, let’s dive directly into the changes made to CS2 and stick around to find out if you are one of the lucky few to have gotten access to the latest from Valve.

Counter-Strike 2: Premier Mode

Counter-Strike released Premier Mode to Global Offensive in December 2023 as a part of Operation Broken Fang. After the operation, the mode was made open to everyone with some unique features that made it stand out from regular matchmaking. However, in CS2, Valve has gone ahead and completely overhauled this system to introduce an array of new features, which makes it a complete departure from the CS matchmaking we know today.

The backbone of these changes lies in the new rating system and leaderboards. The new rating system will work like ELOs, as we know from third-party matchmaking services like FACEIT. This new system is called CS Rating. The way this works is not completely known to everyone, but essentially, you will need to win a certain number of games to unlock Premier mode, where you can earn these ratings.

Using these ratings, you will be placed on a leaderboard. As stated by Valve on their FAQs page about these changes, the leaderboards are as follows –

There are nine Counter-Strike 2 leaderboards:

Friends - This leaderboard tracks players on your Friends List. World - the top 1,000 players in the world. Africa Asia Australia China Europe North America South America

Data miners had already found information about this new mode in one of the earlier updates of the game. Additionally, if you do not want to be a part of Premier matchmaking, you can now earn your matchmaking ranks on a per-map basis. This means that all the Dust II warriors who ranked up to Global Elite, queuing for the most played map in CS, you will now need to work your way up to the upper echelons of Counter-Strike on every map in the active duty pool. I will not delve into its workings here, but the video below will walk you through what the new ratings system looks like –

This new system could be your ladder to the bigger stages of CS. Now, it will be interesting to see how the third-party matchmaking services, with whom, Valve has had official partnerships with, react to these changes.

Inferno is back!

One of the oldest maps in Counter-Strike, de_inferno, or as we call it, Inferno, has also received a facelift using the Source 2 tools. The map is a part of the overhauled groups of maps, which means it was completely built from the ground up using Source 2 tools and map-making tools. The map looks and plays amazing! You have to see it to believe it. On that topic, there has been a new wave of invites as well. Let’s find out what that is all about!

An almost open Beta

The Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test Beta had very few players added to it after its announcement. Valve had released a couple of waves of invites after the announcement, but if my friends-list is anything to by, leave alone the millions of players who were pinging Lord Gaben for an invite, the invites were few and far between. However, with this update comes along a new wave of invites, which from what I can gauge at the time of writing, has a pretty generous selection criteria.

In their Tweet about the changes, Valve mentioned the selection criteria for players to become a part of the Limited Test. The Tweet reads - “And beginning today, we are starting the process of inviting as many eligible players as possible to the Limited Test. To be eligible, players must have CS:GO Prime Status, an active Competitive Skill Group, and play the majority of their official matchmaking games in one of the regions where the Limited Test is available.”

Today we are introducing CS Rating—a precise display of your skill in Counter-Strike 2. With regional and World Leaderboards you'll know exactly how you stack up. Competitive mode in CS2 now features per-map Skill Groups, so players can master their favorite maps while learning… pic.twitter.com/LexHHv8P36

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) August 31, 2023

So, I would say, you should go and check if you got the invite or not, NOW!

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