The announcement of Counter-Strike 2 (opens in new tab) earlier this week marked the beginning of a whole new era for perhaps the most celebrated shooter in video game history, and Valve today announced that the upcoming Paris Major 2023 will be the last major championship event to take place with this version of the game.

The Major is CS:GO's championship event, held annually around the world and featuring a large prize pool. The last championship event, the Rio Major 2022 (open in new tab), had a total prize pool of $1.25 million, and the Paris Major will have a similar prize pool The Majors, which have been held since 2013, still sell out major arenas and are broadcast worldwide in multiple languages broadcast in multiple languages.

But having finally decided it was time to move on from CS:GO, Valve is wasting no time in moving things along." The Paris major will be the last CS:GO major.

"The next major will be in March 2024, and it will be the first for Counter-Strike 2.

That's a full year from now, which should be enough time to squash the bugs and sand down the rough edges of the coming sequel. If not, it's also fun, at least from the standpoint of an audience that hasn't invested anything and isn't competing for the big bucks.

Counter-Strike 2 is in closed beta at the moment, and Valve is quite selective about who participates (open in new tab). But even at this early stage, there is hope that it will not only continue the legacy of CS:GO, but surpass it: as streamer Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek advised when CS2 was announced, "Valorant is done. It's fucking over (open in new tab)." While it may not be over for Valorant and its millions of players, there is no doubt that Counter-Strike 2 will have a major impact on the competitive shooter scene.

The Paris Major 2023 (opens in new tab) - the last CS:GO Major ever - will take place at the Accor Arena from May 8 to May 21.