CS:GO streamers Shroud and summit1g suspect that Valorant could become a serious threat to CS:GO and this has Valve going on the "update offensive" with multiple CS:GO updates in the recent days. Shroud is also speculating about a possible Source 2 Engine update this summer.
Valve has recently released several updates, in which maps and weapons got revised and some drastic balance changes were made.
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CS:GO - scared of Valorant?
Streamer and CS:GO professional Michael "shroud" Grzesiek recently had some harsh words for both Valve and CS:GO. His main criticism was that Valve has been neglecting Counter-Strike for too long due to not having any serious competition. Apart from the occasional new map and the change to a free-to-play model, nothing has changed for a long time.
For a while now, players have been wishing for 128-tick servers, which CS:GO does not have yet. Since the Valorant beta (with 128-tick servers) dropped, though, major updates for CS:GO are suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Shroud believes that's not a coincidence:
“Valve is so smart, they only update they only do sh*t, when they have to. For years and years and years Counter-Strike was just smooth sailing, no competition. Now that there’s competition, woo, they’re making updates. That’s good. I like that because we’ll see something new in Counter-Strike, which is cool.”
He believes that Valve considers Riot Games’ Valorant to be a big threat.
CS veteran Jaryd "summit1g" Lazar also reacted to the nerf of the SG 553 in CS:GO:
He’s annoyed that only now, three days after Valorant appears on the scene, the weapon is finally being nerfed. The SG 553 has been hated within the community for ages and Valve never cared much for it… until they got some competition.
Is the Source 2 engine coming for CS:GO?
Shroud even suspects that Valve might bring a Source 2 engine update as part of their ‘update offensive’ against Valorant. He quotes his former teammate Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham: Apparently, Skadoodle confided in him that Valve would be bringing the Source 2 engine to CS:GO this summer to fundamentally rework the game.
That would make sense, since the release of Riot Games' tactical shooter Valorant is also announced for summer 2020. Rumors about a Source 2 engine update have been circulating for quite some time, since the engine is already used for Dota 2 and Half Life: Alyx. CS:GO on the other hand still runs on the first version of the Source Engine.
However, it should not be forgotten that these are pure speculations and none of this is confirmed by Valve.
Will Valorant replace CS:GO?
Valorant has reached unbelievable viewer numbers on Twitch since the start of the closed beta and enjoys great popularity. Although it hasn't been released yet, many esports pros are already switching to Valorant and the first organizations are already setting up teams and even tournaments.
CS:GO and Valorant have a lot in common, from weapon mechanics to the economy, even the map layouts and the game mode. Therefore, the question begs itself: Will the game become dangerous for top dog CS:GO or even replace it altogether?
Shroud already commented very positively on Riot Games since the very beginning:
He still stands by that. In one of his streams, he recently replied:
"Do I think Valorant will overtake CS:GO? Um, probably."
As for his reasons, he cites that Valorant is a lot easier to learn. It is easier to get into, nicer to look at and generally a bit more casual. CS:GO is more hardcore, though that could change for the better with a Source 2 engine update.
All in all, it can be said that it's a good thing that CS:GO finally has some serious competition. This will rejuvenate the scene and, as we can already see now, will force Valve to take a more active role in taking care of the game and the community. Of course, we have to wait for Valorant's full release but we are certain that Valorant will be a welcome addition to the esports scene.
While we wait, all news on CS:GO and Valorant can be found right here, on EarlyGame.