Rumors have long circulated that Valve is preparing to release a new version of Counter-Strike: this week, data miner Aquarius discovered a config profile in Nvidia's latest drivers called "Counter-strike 2" (in a new tab open in a new tab), which has sparked rumors that the company is getting ready to release Global Offensive on its newest game engine. The profile references "csgos2.exe," which doesn't mean much other than "CS:GO Source 2." (Unless it's a CS:GO Splatoon 2 crossover?)

I used the Nvidia Profile Inspector (opens in new tab) to look through the driver data, and it confirmed that the csgos2.exe profile is present (I don't know why you would make that up, but it's the internet so I checked) CS A more explicit reference to the "source2" Nvidia config for :GO was posted on Twitter by Gabe Follower (opens in new tab).

None of this necessarily means that a Source 2 version of CS:GO is imminent, but it would not be surprising; Dota 2 transitioned to Source 2 in 2015, and the game has been in the works since then.

CS:GO will eventually move to Source 2 as well; when Dota 2 moved to Source 2, Valve added custom game features. This was a pretty big deal that ultimately led to the creation of the autobattler genre. However, I already play the odd Mario Party in CS:GO, so custom games are well covered by the CS:GO mapping and modding community. Maybe Valve will add something else exciting every time they make CS:GO compatible with the latest technology, but if it's really just an update to the machines under de_dust, the average player may not notice much when the switch happens.

In fact, Gabe Follower recently tried porting CS:GO to Source 2 (open in new tab) himself instead of Valve's official port, and found that CS:GO's gameplay "changes little to nothing" except for improved spatial audio simulation He stated that he thinks Valve has asked Gabe Follower to stop reproducing CS:GO in Source 2, which is not too surprising, regardless of whether Valve is working on its own port.

While it is possible that Valve is doing its best to make the rumored Source 2 update really feel like CS:GO 2.0, Counter-Strike's data hounds are not taking the "Counter-strike 2" name on the Nvidia profile too seriously. We don't take it seriously. There is also a reference to "cs2.exe" in the driver, but Aquarius thinks that doesn't mean anything either.

"The "cs2.exe" doesn't seem relevant; it could be a leftover from 2014. I can prove it with leaks from back then," they said.

I reached out to Valve for comment, but they have not commented on past CS:GO Source 2 rumors.