Producer/Developer Valve has filed an intellectual property trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office called CS2, giving more credence to rumors that the company is getting closer to releasing its highly anticipated sequel, Counter-Strike 2.
Not only does the trademark come from Valve and carry initials to make people believe a Counter-Strike 2 may be on the way, but the “related specs section” contains references to two other trademark numbers, as reported by PCGamesN. Matches the original Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The trademark patents were filed last Tuesday, March 14.
This announcement comes a little over a week after data miners uncovered references to Counter-Strike in a recent update to another Valve property, the online warrior Dota 2. It wasn’t clear at the time, as Dota 2 was already running on the Source 2 engine. Does this point to a full blown Counter-Strike sequel that also uses the upgraded engine, or is it just a step up to the newer engine for CS:GO? However, anonymous sources of the leaked information were making claims suggesting the first, including that Counter-Strike 2 will be released as early as March.
Going back even further, at the beginning of March, an Nvidia driver update called Counter-Strike 2 plunged the gaming community into a frenzy of mystery and speculation, with executables labeled “cs2” and “csgos2”. a reference to a CS:GO update or a complete Counter-Strike sequel. A little over two weeks later, the trademark information released earlier this week seems to indicate that Valve has actually brought the sequel to light, although the company still hasn’t acknowledged its existence.
Counter-Strike fans as a group seem hungry for new content. After rumors started to spread again last week, CS:GO has surpassed 1.4 million players at a time, reaching the highest number of consecutive players ever. Forbes even reported that some fans were waiting for the sequel to make its sudden unannounced debut last night, based on nothing more than Valve’s update of the Twitter cover art for CS:GO with five silhouettes of Counter-Stike avatars. According to this story, some read even more, assuming that the five silhouettes are a secret code that indicates five days until the sequel’s release.
If we do get a truly new Counter-Stike sequel, this could indicate a shift in focus for Valve. The company is too busy running the PC gaming platform Steam, and with the launch of the portable handheld console Steam Deck in February of last year, it has managed to break into a playground with giants like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. runs an incredibly successful software distribution platform. Valve is currently the developer of a number of successful IPs, including Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Half-Life, but hasn’t released a new game since 2020, so a return to brand new software development could elevate its status. more.