Is Counter Strike 2 free to play?

Is Counter Strike 2 free to play? That's one question on the minds of players patiently waiting to gain access to Counter Strike 2 and its beta that continues opening up.

With the effort and resources going into the overhaul of maps and the best weapons, we had been wondering if Valve would continue the price model for CS:GO.

If you’re as interested in all news Counter Strike 2 related as us, be sure to check out what we know about its release date and how to access the beta testing servers.

Is Counter Strike 2 free to play?

Counter Strike 2 will arrive as a free upgrade to the already existing CS:GO. This information has officially been announced on the Counter Strike 2 website. The update is set to drop somewhere in summer 2023 and will be available for free on Steam.

Players who don’t own CS:GO can add the new Counter Strike 2 to their library, whereas players who already own the game can simply update their games.

Furthermore, Valve is letting players keep their entire inventories and carrying them over to the new title. In fact, they’ve updated and upgraded many of the cosmetics to be in line with the more modern and demanding graphics of the new title.

Not just the weapons, but even the character models will benefit from the new Source 2 lighting and material upgrades to give them a more high-definition appearance.

• Read more: How to show fps in Counter Strike 2

The same goes for blood and dust splatters, which will all receive major improvements. The focus is on providing directional information to players about bullet impact while also enhancing the realism of the game.

All of this is great news for skin collectors and enthusiasts who will get to keep all of their items. In fact, they will all receive free upgrades to their collections and we assume that this will greatly impact the CS:GO skin economy depending on which skins get the nicest overhauls.

The free new Counter Strike 2 update is sure to send shockwaves around the gaming community and perhaps the golden era of Counter Strike will make a comeback. Regardless of whether you’re a veteran or a newbie, there’s good reason to be excited about this free new update.

If you're jumping into the limited test yourself, check out our guides on the best monitors for Counter Strike and the best mouse.