What looks like a blow to Mac gamers out there (yes, we exist), Valve has discontinued support for Counter-Strike 2. This came as the game was upgraded from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive which broke the game for Apple’s operating system.
For those who may not be in the know, Counter-Strike 2 was released as an in place upgrade for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive when it released back in September, to the dismay of many players. Due to this, Mac players can’t play CS2 because of the lack of support, nor can they play CS:GO because it was replaced by CS2.
Valve has come out and stated that there are no plans for a Mac version of CS2 which comes as terrible news as the game has been supported on the OS for years.
Making a post on Steam, Valve defended the decision by saying that CS2 “represents the largest technical leap in CS history, and our goal is to continue to develop Counter-Strike for years to come”. Along with Mac, Valve is ending support for older hardware running DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. They stated that the players running that hardware were less than one percent of the CS:GO’s active player base and that they will only be supporting 64-bit Wiindows and Linux operating systems going forward.
There will be a “legacy” version of CS:GO that is being made available for those who cannot play CS2 given the hardware restraints. However, this will only be supported until January 1, 2024. Valve will also be offering refunds for those who have Prime Status Upgrade until December 1, 2023.
Personally, I don’t see why Valve would cut support like this. As someone who has a few Apple Silicon Macs, I know these machines should be capable of running CS2, even if it was using a compatibility layer like Rosetta 2. Also, with Apple releasing Game Mode and bringing AAA games to the Mac, this just seems like a terrible excuse from Valve. I mean, I love that Linux is getting all the love nowadays, but Mac needs some love, too!
