As rumor confirmations go, this one's pretty quick. Valve just issued a press release announcing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a standalone release that seems to be a full update of Counter-Strike: Source with new weapons, maps, matchmaking, leaderboards, and more. No screenshots have been released, but from Valve's language, it seems like more of an "anniversary edition" of CS:S that dresses up the existing content than a full-on sequel. CS:GO will also be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Read the full press release within.

Update—Craig Levine, co-founder of the ESEA, has posted a lengthy write-up based on hands-on time with CS:GO. Within: weapon balancing changes, decoy grenades, a new heavy MG, molotovs, and holy hell they made the AK more expensive. Read it. (Thanks to Slasher for the link.)

VALVE ANNOUNCES COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE (CS: GO)

Next Gen Console, PC, and Mac Release Targeted for Early 2012

August 13, 2011 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).

Targeted for release via Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam (for PC and Mac) in early 2012, CS: GO will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched exactly 12 years ago (CS beta 1, August 1999).

CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more.

"Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999," said Doug Lombard, VP of Marketing at Valve. "For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS' award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac."

CS: GO is being developed by Valve in cooperation with Seattle-based Hidden Path Entertainment. The title is targeted for release in early 2012 and will be playable at this year's PAX Prime and London Games Festival.

For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/app/1800/

We have contacted Valve to comment on potential hat functionality. In all seriousness, we should've seen this coming--Hidden Path helped Valve update CS:S a year ago with achievements and a few other bells. But that patch was so modest; it seemed like an experiment that would precede something bigger.

That CS:GO will be multiplatform is interesting, if only because it's a surprise that it took Valve this long to bring CS:S to consoles.

In the middle of a thread on the Steam forums speculating about the possibility of a new Counter-Strike game, Valve employee Cliffe dropped two lone words "Global Offensive." Elsewhere, CVG report that anti-cheat providers ESEA post on their Facebook page with another simple message "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive... More info in the morning." Just below the post there's an image of ESEA man Craig Levine turning the gigantic valve in the lobby of Valve's headquarters in Seattle.

Finally, ESL Pro manager Bastian Vieser tweeted saying "Just spend all day playing the new Counterstrike Global Offensive #CSGO at the #Valve HQ ! God I love my job."

These strong hints appear in the midst of a sea of rumours suggesting that Valve have been flying out top Counter-Strike community members out to their HQ over the course of the past month.

Cadred's Richard Lewis spilled the beans on the trips, saying "Valve have approached several top players from across Europe, as well as J3di from the Zblock team, and have invited them to a meeting in their Seattle offices to discuss the future of the game."



In addition to this, Lambda report that senior level designer at Valve, Iikka Keränen has been answering questions from the community during an event on the TF2Maps server. One player asked Iikka if he is currently creating maps for Team Fortress 2. According to transcripts on the TF2maps forum, he responded to say that he's currently "working on some counter-strike stuff." When asked if there was anything new coming to Counter-Strike: Source, he said "can’t really comment right now."

Elsewhere, Cadred were stonewalled by returning pro player, Marek Kadek. When asked if he'd heard anything about the invites, or been invited himself, he simply returned "no comment."

There's no indications as to whether Global Offensive is a brand new entry in the Counter-Strike series, an add-on to Counter-Strike: Source or even a console version of the classic FPS. If the ESEA Facebook post is correct, we'll know more very soon.

For the first time in as long as we can remember, Counter-Strike has been knocked off the top spot on the Steam most-played list. Team Fortress 2 has stolen the crown. That means that overnight, TF2 has leapt from a top ten position to the very top, gaining tens of thousands of players in the process

It's a resounding indication of the success of TF2's move to free-to-play. Counter-Strike is routinely the most played game on Steam, often boasting twice the number of players of its nearest rivals. For a four-year-old online shooter to suddenly leapfrog the Counter-Strike is a big deal.

Team Fortress 2 already had a big player-base before it went free-to-play, and it might have been fair to assume that everyone who wanted to play the game already owned it, especially given the incredibly low prices it's been sold for in some of Valve's Steam sales, and the regular free weekends that were thrown after every major update. In practice, removing the barrier of entry completely has had an impressive effect.

Does this mean Valve will be making more of their catalogue free? Speaking to Develop, Team Fortress 2 lead Robin Walker said "with just the data from a single product, it seems dangerous to assume that it would be true for all our products."

"The data we got back from the Mann-conomy Update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product," he said. "Either way, we'll know a heck of a lot more in a couple of months, and that's the kind of thing that gets us excited around the office."

A map has been released for Counter Strike: Source that give you opportunity to play in, and around, Osama Bin Laden's compound.

As reported on bitthirty, the map is available to download from gamebanana now.

According the map's creator, Fletch, "What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that the only thing this map has in common with Osama is location." Fletch is planning on evolving fy_abbottabad into a bomb or hostage map later. At the moment, you're restricted to aimlessly shooting your chums around the final resting place of a deceased terrorist.

A lot of Counter Strike: Source games take place every day. In fact, it's still the second most popular title on Steam (coming in just after the original Counterstrike). You can understand why some players might be hungry for a little variety. We've compiled a list of some of the most inventive and fun user-made maps around.


From short range gunfights to spectacular physics engine acrobatics we've got them all, and if new maps don't do it for you, why not check out our top weapon mod list instead?

1. aim_ag_texture2



It might look unconventional, but this textureless mod's excellent design has lead to it becoming one of the most popular mod maps around. Some players find the striking aesthetic alarming, others like it, what do you think readers?

2. aim_extreme



Extreme deliberately pushes the capabilities of CS: Source, the map is still fun to play, but the real draw is visuals a huge step above most other CS maps. While this is obviously not recommended for those on low end systems, the snazzy water and weather effects add an extra layer of sheen.

3. aim_deagle7k



There's something pure about single weapon maps, and desert eagle only ones really reward fast, skillful aiming. This warehouse map is very tight and claustrophobic, leading to some incredibly frantic and desperate pistol gunfights.



4. fy_twotowers



Another CS 1.6 remakeTwoTowers pits two teams in face to face forts, including the titular sniping towers across narrow courtyard, causing some intense firefights focused in a small space. It also comes in a dust-flavoured version, but the original is more widely played.

5. fy_iceworld



Iceworld was originally an original Counter Strike map that was so popular it's made it to Source and Team Fortress 2. This small arctic map leads to frenetic close quarters combat. There are an absolute ton of Iceworld based maps out there, so if this one doesn't take your fancy then one of these should.

6. scoutzknivez



What happens when all players spawn with only a scout rifle and a knife in a low gravity world? Scoutzknivez happens! The mobility of this map makes for some of the fastest and most brutal sniper gameplay around. The popularity of this concept has spawned hordes of imitators but all have one thing in common, a very vertical design philosophy that makes the most of the players' spectacular jumping abilities.



7. surf_ski_2



Surfing exploits the quirks of the Source Engine to glide effortlessly along in defiance of physics. surf_ski_2 is an good map for beginners to put get the hang of this exotic skill. Play it by yourself for a little while to get the hang of things before trying it out online.

8. surf_10x_final



Now that you've gotten the hang of surfing you're ready to join the rest of the CS surfing community. surf_10x_final is one of the most widely played surf maps around. Notice how different weapons are placed around the course, the better you are at surfing the better equipped you'll be.



9. surf_greatriver_xdre4m



Another massively popular surf map, there are a lot of versions of surf_greatriver out there, but xdre4m is one of the most widely played. If you don't care for it you can find the other versions, and some that were inspired by them, here.

10. Kreedz Climbing



Technically a mod that works with any Source game, Kreedz Climbing began as a CS map, hence it's inclusion here. It takes the surfing concept and adds rope swinging and complex jumps to turn the game into a fiendish puzzle platformer. Comes with a whole selection of maps for the avid climber.



Which maps have we missed? post your favourites in the comments.

There are eight different characters in Counter-Strike: Source, four Terrorists and four Counter-Terrorists. The trouble is that there are millions of Counter-Strike players, which makes standing out difficult. Luckily, fans have been creating new player skins since the game's release, and now there are literally thousands of accomplished efforts to choose from. Many of the new skins add advanced effects like normal maps and phong shading to make them look even better than the default skins. Whether you want to turn the Terrorists into suave, suited bank robbers, or add more convincing camo to the Counter-Terrorists, there's something for you in the Counter-Strike: Source modding community. Read on for our pick of the best Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist player skins.

Installing player skins sounds more complicated than it is. It's essentially a matter of dropping the mod file into the right place. Here's how to do it. Head into your Counter-Strike: Source player file directory, normally located here: C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\Counter-Strike: Source \cstrike\materials\models\player\. Within the 'player' file, create eight empty files with the following names, one for each of the terrorist and counter-terrorist models: ct_gign, ct_gsg9, ct_sas, ct_urban, t_arctic, t_guerilla, t_leet, and t_phoenix. When you download and unzip a skin, it's likely that you'll see a 'materials', 'player' or 'model' file, drag and drop these into your Counter-Strike: Source materials folder to merge the files and install the skin.

With skins like the Death Avenger, you'll get a t_arctic file, replace the t_arctic file you've created with the new one and you're away. For more details on installing player skins, check out the guide on FPS Banana.

CT Remix pack


This fantastic set of skins gives a new, unified appearance to all of the Counter-Terrorist models. The CT Remix pack is a perfect set of skins if you play regularly with friends. Different masks and gear give each model its own personality, but the highly detailed monochrome camo will give you the appearance of a crack team of killers.

Night Ops


Perfect for all those night-time Counter-Strike maps. Okay, so there aren't many night-time Counter-Strike maps, but black is slimming and this excellent skin comes as close as it can to making you look like a ninja assassin without breaking the modern military feel of the Counter-Strike universe. It's so cool that it needs a couple of downloads. Here's part 1 and part 2.

Tactical CT


When military types talk about tactical vests, they don't mean vests that hide in your underwear drawer, plotting their best route of attack. They're really talking about pockets. The more pockets a vest has, the more tactical it is, and they don't come much more tactical than they do on this Tactical Counter-Terrorist skin. There's so much detail on this skin that it looks as though you could shoot the buttons off if you wanted to.

Classic Unbreakable CT Pack



The Classic Unbreakable CT Pack comes in three distinct flavours, Desert Marine, Water Snake and Silver Flame. Each one is a finely crafted, highly detailed skin with their own unique look. Silver flame is probably the stand-out of the three, with a swirling, silver flame pattern that your victims are likely to remember long after the round has finished.

Death Avenger



In case anyone's in danger of forgetting who the bad guys are, the Death Avenger skin replaces your typical Counter-Strike countenance with a terrifying skull mask. If you're going to run around planting bombs and teabagging the unlucky gents you just just head-shotted, you might as while do it dressed as a Bond villain. Check out Masked for Death for a similar version for the Guerilla skin.

Casual Terrorist



The Casual Terrorist skin is another mod of the ever-popular Arctic Terrorist model. It's a well made, understated take on your typical Counter-Strike terrorist. The hoodie and jeans combo might seem less glamorous than the Bank Robber, but it's great if you want to hold on to Counter-Strike's sense of realism..

Bank Robber



If the Death Avenger skin is about making you look like a Bond villain, the Bank Robber skin is about making you look like Bond himself, if Bond decided to give up his life as an international man of mystery and rob a liquor store instead. The look is borrowed directly from great heist movies like Heat, which prove that you can be a cold-blooded, sadistic murderer, but still look classy in a sharp suit. The Bank Robber skin is so detailed that you can even see the time on his Rolex. About 3:20 pm from the looks of it.

Gordon Freeman



Everyone's favourite physicist has gone rogue. This alternative skin for the Leet model adds Gordon Freeman to counter-Strike: Source, as a terrorist. Where did it all go wrong, Gordon? He may be able to single-handedly thwart an alien invasion, but can he handle the pressures of a CS arena? There's only one way to find out. Download the skin and suit up to see if the One Free Man really has what it takes.

These are just a few of the thousands of Counter-Strike: Source skins available. Head over to FPS Banana for more. If you'd like to customise your character even further, check out our pick of the best Counter-Strike: Source weapon mods. Which one is your favourite, and are there any that you'd add to the list?

Counter-Strike: Source has brilliant weapons, but somehow the huge Counter-Strike modding community has managed to make them even better. Modders have achieved great results by cutting out the polygons devoted to bits of arm you hardly ever see, and piling them into creating new high detail weapons complete with new sounds and custom animations. They're also dead easy to install. Perhaps you're tired of seeing the same old combat knife, fancy sticking a scope on your M4A1 or want to dual wield Berettas made of ice and fire. Read on for ten of the best.

Before you install any mods, it's worth keeping a backup of your 'cstrike' file, as not all servers support custom skins. With that done, all you need to do to get each of these mods working in your game of Counter-Strike: Source is download and unzip the mod file. Then open your Counter-Strike: Source directory, normally located at Steam/Steamapps/*your account name here*/counter-strike source/cstrike.. and drag the mod folders into this directory. If Windows asks whether you want to merge the files, click 'yes'. Now, boot up the game. Voila. All those old weapons you've seen a thousand times before will be shiny and different. Here's our top ten.

1. Nighthawk



As the default pistol, the USP is the one gun you're going to see a lot. Spice it up a bit with these alternative models. The sleek Nighthawk will give you a highly detailed alternative with a realistic looking scope. The HK1911 0.45cal is another great replacement, with unique animations and unusual boxy silencer.

2. Dual M7s



This brilliant mod replaces the once-great P90 with a pair of M7 submachineguns, because two guns are better than one, that's just a fact. If there's one thing everyone knows about submachineguns, it's that spinning them round and round like an idiot makes them fire better, that's another fact. Brace yourself, this is probably the best reload animation ever.



3. Scorpion knife



I know what you're thinking. "There isn't enough Klingon weaponry in Counter-Strike Source." You're absolutely right. The Scorpion is exactly what you need if you want to replace the boring old knife with something more exotic. If that's a bit too otherworldly for your taste, the M9 Probis III blade is a perfectly fine replacement for Valve's original.

4. Auric Dragon Desert Eagle



The Auric Dragon reskin brings a touch of class to your tired old Deagle. The traditional silver texture is darker, and, here's the good bit, there are golden dragons embedded into the grip. It looks like it's come straight out of a John Woo film.

5. Magic bullet



This mod gets rid of the AWP sniper rifle entirely. Instead of replacing it with another gun it gives you telekenetic powers. A quick point of the index finger sends a floating bullet flying at your target. The reload animation makes you beckon, at which point the bullet you just fired flies back into your hand. Genius. You'll find a video of the magic bullet in action here.

If adding magic powers to Counter-Strike seems a bit extreme, there are some other excellent alternative AWP models out there, most notably the mighty Barrett M82a1 (pictured).

6. Double Barrelled Shotgun



This mod replaces the XM1014 with a good old fashioned double barrelled shotgun The sturdy looking weapon comes with its own reloading animations. For a good modern alternative check out the mighty Striker.

7. Snark's M4A1



This fantastic looking replacement for the M4A1 looks as though it's come from a modern Call of Duty game. Who needs a gun with both scope and a laser sight, you ask? You do! Because it looks awesome.

8. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. G36



If you've braved S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s terrifying wastelands, you'll know how comforting it is to have a G36 at the ready. Thankfully it kills Terrorists as well as it does mutants, and it looks a lot better than the SG552 it replaces.

9. Vintorez


The Vintorez really does look as though it could shoot a pea from a mile away. That's partly because it has the the biggest scope you've ever seen, but mostly because of the superb texturing work. This weapon replaces the SG1 sniper rifle.

10. Mark 23 .45 Auto Akimbo



Those Beretta Elites, they think they're so great. Little do they know that the Mark 23 Auto Akimbo models, with their high resolution, high detail textures are superior them in almost every way. The underslung attachments make them look meaner than the standard Berettas, and it has custom animations provided by a man who calls himself Batman IV. For an unusual alternative, check out Ice's Heaven and Hell Berettas, because firing a gun while it's on fire earns you extra action hero points.

If these 10 alternative weapons aren't enough, you'll find thousands more over on FPS Banana. Which one's your favourite? What other mod features would you like to see on PCGamer.com?

The European leg of the Intel Extreme World Championships is set to kick off tomorrow in Kiev. Three tournaments will pit the best Starcraft 2, Counterstrike 1.6 and Quake players against each other. The winners will gain a place in the Intel Masters V World Championship in Hanover in March, as well as a mighty wad of cash. Read on for details.

Players are competing for a slice of a $79,000 prize pot. Qualifiers for the three tournaments have been sorted into two six-man groups. After a league phase the top three from each group will be entered into the play-offs. Counterstrike players stand to win the most, with a $50,000 top prize. The winners of the Starcraft 2 and Quake will take home $18,000 and $11,000 respectively.

The winners of each competition will go on to the World Championships in Hanover at CeBIT in March. For more information on the competition, check out the Intel Extreme Masters Championship Facebook page. The matches will all be broadcast on ESL TV.

The first episode of Eurosport's coverage of the Intel Extreme Masters aired recently, and drew over a million different viewers. The show went behind the scenes at the Global Challenge Shanghai Counter-Strike 1.6 tournament, following the highs and lows of Team Fnatic's campaign to become Shanghai's new Counter-Strike champions.

The Global Challenge Shanghai competition saw world famous Counter-Strike pros team NaVi and Team Fnatic battling it out for the $57,000 prize money. The program concentrates more on the behind the scenes drama and preparation of the teams involved rather than the matches themselves, but nevertheless drew over a million different viewers between its initial broadcast and repeats on Eurosport and Eurosport 2. The program's success acts as another sign of the broadening appeal of competitive gaming as a spectator sport.

The show is available to European viewers on demand on the Eurosport player. For international viewers, the Intel Extreme Masters have put episode 1 on Youtube, part 1 of which is embedded below. Episode 2 will be broadcast on Eurosport 2 on Thursday at 9:30PM GMT, and the series is planning to cover the whole Intel Extreme Masters league season all the way up to the event's finale in Hanover next March. For more information on the competition, check out the official Intel Extreme Masters site.

We've had a look at esports around the world and rounded up a few of November's hottest gaming tournaments. StarCraft 2, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty 4, Team Fortress 2 and Quake Live all feature as the month kicks off with the massive Multiplay i41 event in the UK, and ends with the even bigger Dreamhack LAN party in Sweden, where the prize pools are worth thousands of pounds.

05/11/2010 - MLG Pro Circuit Dallas StarCraft 2 tournament

3 day event
$17,500 prize pool
1v1 matches with 128 participants
MLG Pro Circuit site

 
12/11/2010 - Multiplay i41, Newbury UK
A three day event hosting the following major tournaments.

The Multiplay Counter-Strike:Source Cup

£8,000 prize pot
128 teams
Counter-Strike:Source Cup site

 
The Thermaltake StarCraft 2 cup

£5,000 prize pot
1v1 matches with 512 participants
Thermaltake Starcraft 2 cup link

 
The Multiplay Call of Duty 4 Cup Sponsored by Rustlers Gamesafe

up to £8,000 prize pool
up to 128 teams
Multiplay Call of Duty 4 Cup link

 
The Multiplay Team Fortress 2 Cup

up to £9,600 prize pool
up to 128 teams
Multiplay Team Fortress 2 Cup link

 
13/11/2010 - GOM TV StarCraft 2 Open, Seoul, South Korea
An ongoing tournament, season two running since the 18th of October. Started with 64 players and already down to just 4.

Season Two Finals

£112,500 prize pool, with £56,350 going to the winner of this final

final is a best of 7

free to watch live online, $20 for a season ticket to access videos on demand

GOM TV StarCraft 2 Open link

 
25/11/2010 - DreamHack Winter
A three day event hosting the following major tournaments.

DreamHack SteelSeries StarCraft 2 LAN-tournament

Battlenet EU
$26,900 prize pool
1v1 matches with 64 participants
DreamHack Winter link

 
MSI Counter-strike Championship

$34,200 prize pool
64 teams
MSI Counter-strike Championship link

 
Kaspersky Quake Live Championship

£6500 prize pool
Quake Live Championship link


If you know of any other game tournaments we've missed, let us know in the comments and we'll add them in.