Counter-Strike 2 announced plans to drop support for macOS and 32-bit operating systems.
Per Steam, Valve revealed the latest iteration of its massively popular Counter-Strike series will not be playable on macOS or older PCs. "Counter-Strike 2 represents the largest technical leap in CS history, and our goal is to continue to develop Counter-Strike for years to come," the blog post reads. "As technology advances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. Similarly, we will no longer support macOS. Combined, these represented less than one percent of active [Counter-Strike: Global Offensive] players. Moving forward, Counter-Strike 2 will exclusively support 64-bit Windows and Linux."
Valve further stated that players on a 32-bit system may request a refund for their Prime Status Upgrade if it was purchased between March 22, 2023 and Sept. 27. Players on macOS may similarly avail of a refund for their Prime Status Upgrade so long as the majority of their CS: GO playtime was on macOS and they played the game between March 22, 2023 and Sept. 27. It should also be noted CD keys, gifts and accounts with bans will not be eligible for any refunds. Refund requests will be open until Dec. 1.
Counter-Strike 2 Takes Over Global Offensive
While macOS and 32-bit users will not be able to migrate to Valve's latest tactical first-person shooter, CS: GO will remain available for download on Steam similar to Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Source. Valve will additionally continue to support the legacy version of CS: GO until the start of 2024. The legacy version will also retain most features of the beloved title. Unfortunately, users will likely have to search online for a private server if they want to match against other players, as CS: GO's legacy version does not come with official matchmaking.
The release of Counter-Strike 2 was met with mixed reactions from longtime fans of the franchise. There were some players who praised Counter-Strike 2's increased graphical quality and new mechanics, and the game has certainly gained a massive player base with over a million concurrent players at the time of writing. At the same time, many users have also criticized the monetization system, assorted bugs and technical issues plaguing the gameplay experience, as well as the flood of hackers and aimbots running amok in the game's lobbies. This led to Counter-Strike 2 receiving a "Mixed" rating on the official Steam page, which is the lowest score given to any title released by Valve to date.
Counter-Strike 2 is available for PC.
Source: Steam