A few weeks ago, data mined from Nvidia drivers strengthened speculation that Valve is close to releasing a new version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the Source 2 engine. Now Valve is fiddling with CS:GO data on the Steam backend, and if this rumored Source 2 version is not actually imminent, then Gabe is probably just intentionally messing with us.

Aquarius, the data digger who previously appeared in the Nvidia driver article, stated today (opens in new tab) that Valve has added Source 2 files to the CS:GO "developer pre-release branch." The SteamDB changelog in question (opens in new tab) looks like nothing more than a list of numbers to me, but this excitement is explained by Aquarius' analysis of the changes (opens in new tab) made earlier this month comparing the CS:GO files to the Dota 2 files.

CS:GO's files were compared to Dota 2's files earlier this month.

For those who are not CS:GO data watchers, the next Steam backend change (opens in new tab) is a bit easier to understand: a "Limited Test Build" has been added to CS:GO's Steam database, and a "cs2.exe" An executable file has been added, which is likely to happen, since no one is going to get attached to the name "Global Offensive.

Valve has not publicly stated what they are trying to do, and this Source 2 update has been rumored for some time, but it is typical of Valve to release this news without any preamble. The beta could launch as early as tomorrow.

If we are talking about a straight Source 2 port of CS:GO, the average Counter-Strike player may not notice a huge difference. The engine upgrade will have a long-term impact on the game and its continued development; Valve may be treating this as a real sequel, not just an engine upgrade.

For now, we'll wait and watch SteamDB.