Even though it was just recently introduced, Valve’s Steam Deck is already in the sights of players who want to try out the next version of Counter-Strike.
In recent weeks, Valve hasn’t so much teased Counter-Strike 2 as told people that it’s happening. Following SteamDB’s activity has sparked speculation and a lot of fun.
The announcement didn’t specify whether or not the game is Steam Deck compatible. Not so much “will it play” as “how” will it play.
Valve has been developing its engine, Source, for the past twenty years, and they have now released an improved version, dubbed Source 2. The engine was created for Half-Life 2 and has since been used for other games including Team Fortress 2, Portal, and of course, Counter-Strike.
Counter-Strike: Source was launched in 2004 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released in 2012; both games were powered by the Source 1 engine. To avert huge upheavals in the esports scene, Valve allowed CS: GO to continue using the older engine as it transitioned to Source 2 and led the push with Dota 2 and then Half-Life: Alyx.
A thorough test of Source 2 on the Steam Deck has not been done as of yet. Dota 2’s performance requirements aren’t particularly high, and Half-Life: Alyx lacks compatibility for its non-VR version. Check below to know if Counter-Strike 2 release on Steam
Counter-Strike 2 release on Steam
Although Valve has not confirmed it, Counter-Strike 2 will almost certainly be playable on the Steam Deck. Since the Steam Deck’s maximum resolution is 1280×800 when undocked, we’re optimistic that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will function smoothly there as well.
Not only is Counter-Strike 2 Valve’s first major hardware triumph, but its design philosophy likely mirrors that of many other competitive games.
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To cater to the widest possible audience, Valve and many other studios have optimized their published games to work on practically every platform. It’s meant to help those in developing markets, where internet cafés are still popular, as well as those in less fortunate parts of the world.
Given the availability of Source 2 mods for Half-Life: Alyx and the Steam Deck’s already remarkable performance for far more demanding games, it seems probable that the Steam Deck is the ideal method to play the game while on the road.
The lack of a mouse and keyboard is the only real drawback, but whether Valve plans to attract a different audience by catering to those who prefer to play with a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard remains to be seen.