There is a new Randy Pitchford interview on Gamehelper, cornering the Gearbox Software front-man about Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, their upcoming single-player variant on the wildly popular team-based shooter. Randy talks about their plans (as indefinite as they currently are) for the game's release, the transfer of the project from Rogue Entertainment, some of the game's features like the new weapons, single-player missions, bot AI, and lots more. Here is a bit about how Condition Zero will mix-n-match with other versions of Counter-Strike:

Gamehelper: What’s the plan for cutting down on ‘Upgrade Confusion’ post Condition Zero? Will there be future patches for CZ separate from Counter-Strike or will we see community wide upgrades?

Randy Pitchford: I would expect a major patch for Counter-Strike when Condition Zero is launched to make them fully compatible with each other. Beyond that, there are likely to be continual upgrades and improvements to the on-line game.

GH: Will the patch for CS be required, or will it be an optional component?

RP: Condition Zero will have everything needed to play on or off line in the box. When Condition Zero is released and installed, there should be no need to worry about maintaining any other installations of the game.

GH: If someone has never owned CS, will they be able to play on CS servers with just the install of CZ?

RP: Yes. This will be the preferred way to play CS on-line after Condition Zero is released because CZ will include some technology enhancements and content upgrades beyond the current level of CS.