Going forward, Valve says Counter-Strike 2 will only be playable on hardware that supports Linux and 64-bit Windows. The developer revealed support for Mac and older hardware like DirectX has been discontinued.
Valve candidly revealed the number of Mac and older hardware users for the shooter’s predecessor, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, represents “less than 1 percent” of the active player base. And with the sequel being “the largest technical leap in CS history,” said hardware has no place in the game’s future.
Counter-Strike 2 launched in late September and, prior to its release, was billed as a free upgrade to Global Offensive. Similar to what Blizzard did with Overwatch 2’s launch, Counter-Strike 2 has completely replaced the original game.
As with those two titles, Studio Wildcard will shut down the servers for its 2015 game Ark: Survival Evolved after the release of its remaster (subtitled Survival Ascended).
As consolation, Valve is offering affected players a “legacy version” of Global Offensive. The frozen build of the game contains all of the features found in the original game, but without official matchmaking.
Support for the legacy Global Offensive will last until January 1, 2024. After that point, Valve noted, “certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (e.g., access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail.”