A thing modders often do: recreate real-world locations in the form of custom videogame levels. Virtual tourism! Everyone wins!

Turns out that can land you with a five-figure fine and a cease and desist order from a government department. (more…)

CS:GO‘s map workshop opened up this week, replete with the environmental tinkerings of its busy community. There are already eight pages> of maps to flick through. Valve are keen to get more up there, too, as they explain: “Don’t hesitate to get your rough draft up on the Workshop. You can update your map as often as you’d like, and players and servers will stay current. The best way to test a map is to get players in there, so publish early and publish often!” As headlined, it’s now 50% off until the 11th, so you can get a taste of the militaristic bounty for cheap, if you want.

Anyone playing this regularly?

Given that you’ve paddled your browser over to this isle of the vast Internet ocean, I feel fairly safe in assuming that you’re a PC gamer. Therefore, you have – presumably, in some form or another – played Counter-Strike at some point in your life. But maybe that was back in ye olde futureyear of 2000, or perhaps you gave Source a go around the time Half-Life 2 came out. So along comes this newfangled “Global Offensive” thingamawhatsit, and naturally, you’re suspicious. I mean, what if they replaced all the guns with bottles of Mountain Dew? Or maybe Valve turned the series into a piece of postmodernist art, with us taking the role of a deeply contemplative bomb forced to witness the futile conflicts of man. These are very legitimate concerns, but this weekend, you can find out whether or not they hold any water. For free!

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Did you think you’d login to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive today and find everything safe and sound – just where you left it? Well think again>. And now you’re thinking things will be only slightly off – maybe a weapon stat turned on its side and a terrorist’s vest left slightly ajar? Well, think a second time>. The latest update adds two new maps, makes “a wide range of fixes,” and completely overhauls Classic Competitive mode’s matchmaking.

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“A People’s History” is a three part essay series that argues for a long-standing but suppressed tradition of non-industry involvement in the first person genre. This is part three. [Part one. Part two.] (more…)

Eurogamer’s grand high poobah Tom ‘Tom Bramwell’ Bramwell makes a welcome return to RPS to tell us all about the latest makeover of Valve’s undying multiplayer shooter Counter-Strike, which was was released to the world just yesterday. > (more…)

Lamentation at the ongoing lack of a new Half-Life there might well be, but Valve sure are launching a lot of games round about now. Dota 2 is quietly infecting the brains of a small army of people with a new type of language, Team Fortress 2 has just turned into a strange, voucher-based co-op game, and Fart Cops of course continues its unassailable dominance of the game charts in China. Then there’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which moves from long-running beta to A Thing That You Can Pay For And Play today, specifically in about five hours from now. It’s pretty cheap, too – £10.79/$13.50 at the moment. Who’s playing/will be playing? I admit, I’m tempted. It’s been long years since I used to ineptly stagger around CS 1.6′s Dust in the PC Format office, but I have a certain affection for the game’s quiet viciousness. The time very much seems right for its latest rebirth. (more…)

Despite having originally released all the way back in the year 2,000 Anno Domini, CounterStrike is still – still! – the number one game being played on Steam right now. That’s not even taking into account CounterStrike Source. It’s an astonishing achievement, and CounterStrike’s continued popularity is reason enough to pay attention to the new game from co-creator, Minh Le. That new game is Tactical Intervention, and it’s a project he quit his job at Valve to pursue. I sat down for a chat with him, and this is what ensued:> (more…)

Our e-sports correspondent is ESFI World’s Samuel Lingle>

It’s been a month since the last e-sports update, but fear not. They’re returning with weekly regularity. In theory.

Today I’m going to recap most of the bigger events of the past month or so, considering there was a lot of exciting stuff you guys may have missed. It’s StarCraft heavy by necessity, as the majority of e-sport events these days feature Blizzard’s popular RTS.

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Ooh, that’s Dwight’s desk! Remember when Jim filled his phone with coins, so it got incrementally heavier? When he took them out, Dwight hit himself in the face? And Pam’s old desk. I have a small confession: I like Erin a bit more… What? Hmm, sorry, I got a bit lost in fanboying over a video of a Counter-Strike: Source map that recreates the American version of The Office. Oh, that’s where Oscar, Angela and Kevin sit… (more…)