A tweet from Gabe Follower 2 shares a rumor that the recent hints about Counter-Strike 2 or Counter-Strike Source 2 are because Valve has been testing a version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive using Source Engine 2 since the end of last year (thanks Insider Gaming). The tweet hedges on this, saying it's "fairly reliable information," but "should be considered speculation." There's a follow-up from esports reporter Richard (no relation) Lewis citing "sources with a knowledge of the game's development" speaking anonymously. These sources say the project is a priority for Valve, it is "about ready to go." Word is a beta is expected this month, despite this sounding like the setup for an April Fool's joke: "the tentative release date for the beta is in this month of March with April 1st at the outside." Here are more rumored details:

The sources explained that the creation of the game had been something of a priority for Valve’s team, which includes members that have overseen development of previous iterations in the Counter-Strike franchise. This, they said, should explain why some issues with CS:GO have been largely unattended to for some time. “The big priority is getting this out and then polishing it, fixing any bugs and bringing it up to the level people expect from CS.”

Specific details of the game included that it will, of course, be on the Source 2 engine, a move that should improve the optimisation and graphical fidelity of the game. That is likely to come at a cost of performance for players with low-end PCs, although Valve historically has always had a philosophy of empowering those with every-day gaming rigs to be able to play their games.

The big question for the community has been whether or not official servers would be 128 tick bringing it in line with rival title Valorant. The sources confirmed that this would be the case and that this feature would likely be ready at the launch of the beta.

The game is also set to include a much improved match-making system with features that it is hoped would make the need for third party pugging services unnecessary. Currently the community has had to suffer from uneven match-making and long times between rank ups. Most who want an experience more closely aligned with that of a competitive player are typically advised to sign-up for third party services such as FACEIT. These features will be an ongoing work in progress but the beta will launch with similar match-making features that are available in the current version of CS:GO.

The sources explained that the game was “about ready to go” and had said that it had even already been tested by an unnamed group of professional players that were flown out in secret to Valve’s headquarters in Seattle.