As players become accustomed to CS2, many have found themselves wondering how this transition will affect the Pro League. With Season 18 of the ESL Pro League coming to a wrap on Oct 1st, fans were quick to notice that the tournament continued to be played in CS:GO, despite the release of CS2. So, will we be seeing professional play in CS2 soon, or will CS:GO continue to be the game of choice for the Pro League?
Will The Pro League Embrace CS2?
On Sep 27th, ESL announced on their official Twitter that they will be making the transition to CS2 for the upcoming tournaments. The new Pro League, therefore, will largely maintain the same format as its predecessor, with the only exception being the shift to CS2.
ESL also surveyed the participating teams before the start of Season 18 about a potential switch to CS2 for future stages of the tournament. Unfortunately, the results of this survey are currently unknown by the CS community, and it is also unclear whether these results potentially sway ESL’s current decision to transition to CS2 or not.
However, it’s safe to assume that the migration to CS2 will happen very soon since the sequel is an update to CS:GO, instead of being a stand-alone release. This means that support for CS:GO has completely ended, rendering it no longer viable for professional play anyway.
Fans are thus excited to see the upcoming tournaments in CS2, most importantly the PGL Major Copenhagen, which will have the honor of being the first major tournament to be played on the Counter-Strike sequel next year.
Why Isn’t CS2 Already Used In The Pro League?
None of us can wait to finally see professional CS2 matches; however, it’s safe to assume that we’ll have to wait until Valve addresses all the in-game bugs that are found on a daily basis by CS2 players.
This instability is one of the reasons why ESL decided not to make a mid-tournament jump to CS2 during Season 18 since the last thing any organizer would want is to be riddled by technical delays and debugging during the most crucial part of the tournament.
Moreover, while remaining largely the same as CS:GO, there have been significant changes to the CS2 in-game mechanics, like the introduction of new volumetric smokes and map overhauls. Therefore, it’s only fair to give the pro teams enough time to get accustomed to the new Source 2 engine.
Conclusion
ESL’s official confirmation has fans excited to witness professional gameplay with CS2’s new mechanics and map overhauls, even though we might have to wait for a while. Do you think CS2 should make its appearance in the Pro League soon, or should pro players be given more time to adapt to the new mechanics? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!