Valve Drops Support for Counter-Strike 2 on Mac, Citing Low Number of Players

Valve has discontinued support for Counter-Strike 2 on Mac after forcing an upgrade from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that broke the game on the platform.

Counter-Strike 2 replaced CS:GO when it launched last month with an update for all players, including those on Mac. However, this update made the original game as well as CS2 unplayable on Mac because of a lack of support from Valve.

Now, Valve has announced that it has no plans for a Mac version of Counter-Strike 2, ending years of support for Counter-Strike on the platform.

Defending the decision in a post on Steam, Valve said Counter-Strike 2 “represents the largest technical leap in CS history, and our goal is to continue to develop Counter-Strike for years to come”. Valve is ending support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems, as well as Mac. The company said that combined, these represented less than one percent of active CS: GO players. Moving forward, Counter-Strike 2 will exclusively support 64-bit Windows and Linux, Valve confirmed.

As a make-good, Valve is making a “legacy” version of CS:GO available to those who cannot launch CS2 with their current hardware. But support for this version of CS:GO ends January 1, 2024. Valve is also offering Prime Status Upgrade refunds to those affected. Valve will offer refunds until December 1, 2023.

The legacy version of CS:GO is a “frozen” build of CS:GO that has all of the features of CS:GO except for official matchmaking. After January 1, 2024 the game will still be available, but certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (for example access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail, Valve warned.

Despite the fact the Mac CS:GO player base made up less than one percent of the total, Valve’s decision has been described as a blow to Mac gaming, especially for those who have played CS:GO on the platform over the last decade.

CS2’s recent user review rating on Steam is “mixed”. For all reviews, it’s “very positive”, but Valve carried over CS:GO reviews when it replaced the original with the sequel. Indeed, some have taken issue with Valve’s decision to essentially delist CS:GO, a move that has drawn comparisons to Blizzard’s controversial move to replace the original Overwatch with Overwatch 2. CS2 players have also expressed their disappointment over a lack of features that were available in CS:GO.

If you’re just getting started with CS2, check out our beginner tips for new players.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.