The Counter-Strike community has been convinced for the past month or so that a miracle is in the works (opens in new tab). While it is not yet clear what that miracle will be, confidence in a new version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive using Valve's current Source 2 engine is strong, and confidence in a completely new version of Counter-Strike 2 is equally strong. Or rather, Counter-Strike 5 or 6, depending on how you count it, but that's OK. software, video game software, and computer game programs downloadable via the Internet"; the second (opens in new tab) is certainly genuine, as the definition is broader and includes things like "competitions."

"Entertainment services, namely the provision of online video games; the provision of online entertainment, namely the provision of online computer games; the provision of online computer games and online video games; electronic gaming services provided by the Internet, the provision of information in the field of computer games and entertainment provided by means of the Internet; the organization of competitions related to video games, video game education and video game entertainment; the provision of online computer games and online video games and information in the field of computer games."

I don't know what kind of education Counter-Strike provides, but to be fair, I could probably write a book around my feelings about A Long on Dust II (they wouldn't expect it!)

The main thing is that this is a public filing by Valve, and up until this point, the "Counter-Strike 2" rumors have been based on Nvidia driver updates and possible references pointing to this game in changes to the Steam backend of the game (opens in new tab) last week That it was due to a data miner who found it. The official Twitter account is also engaging in well-determined trolling behavior, not posting anything, just changing the background periodically. And while all this is going on, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has easily broken the all-time player count, setting a new record of 1.4 million concurrent players last week (opens in new tab).

We've asked Valve to comment on this before and will ask them again, but let's face it. Whatever this 'Counter-Strike 2' is, and after this it is increasingly likely to be Counter-Strike 2, certain elements within Valve are clearly toying with the community and I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be 'Half-Life 3'.