Earlier this year, following a barrage of rumors and speculation, Valve finally confirmed that Counter-Strike 2 was on the way, but they weren’t super forthcoming about when exactly everybody would get their hands on the game. Limited testing kicked off soon after the announcement, with Valve slowly adding more players, features, and content, but when would everybody on Steam get their hands on the game? Well, the answer is… now! Counter-Strike 2 is now available on Steam for the low, low price of nothing! You can check out a launch trailer for the game, below.

　　For those who haven’t been keeping up, Counter-Strike 2 isn’t a major reinvention of the classic tactical shooter – it’s mostly an improved version of the existing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive experience, updated to the more modern Source 2 engine with improved visuals, “sub-tick” server responsiveness, and more new features. That said, Valve is adding content to this new version of the game now and in the future. Here’s a rundown of the game’s key features, courtesy of Valve…

　　“For over two decades, Counter-Strike has offered an elite competitive experience, one shaped by millions of players from across the globe. And now the next chapter in the CS story is about to begin. This is Counter-Strike 2.

　　A free upgrade to CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 marks the largest technical leap in Counter-Strike’s history. Built on the Source 2 engine, CS2 is modernized with realistic physically-based rendering, state of the art networking, and upgraded Community Workshop tools. In addition to the classic objective-focused gameplay that Counter-Strike pioneered in 1999.”

　　All-new CS Ratings with the updated Premier modeGlobal and Regional leaderboardsUpgraded and overhauled mapsGame-changing dynamic smoke grenadesTick-rate-independent gameplayRedesigned visual effects and audioAll items from CS:GO moving forward to CS2Counter-Strike 2 is available now on Steam. As mentioned, much like CS:GO the game is free-to-play, although Valve is selling “Prime Status,” which promises special Prime Status servers and cosmetics for a one-time payment of $15. What do you think? Excited to jump back into Counter-Strike now that the package received a new layer of polish? The game is already the most popular thing on Steam -- let's see what new playercount records Valve can hit.