Valve"s plans to offer players a chance to check out an early version of Counter-Strike Global Offensive have been pushed back. VG247.com reports that due to feedback it received from pro gamers, Valve has decided to not launch the open beta for the upcoming multiplayer shooter in October as previously announced.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, first announced last August, will be just the latest version of the highly popular online shooter. Both Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Source still have tens of thousands of PC players competing online every day since it first launched as a Half-Life mod in 1999.
The fact that Valve, along with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive co-developer Hidden Path Entertainment, brought in pro gamers to test out the early builds before it is released to the masses seems to be an indication that Valve wants to keep the Counter-Strike franchise alive in multiplayer competitions. The real key is if they can also bring lots of online players to the game"s planned Xbox 360 and PS3 ports. Valve"s games are popular on the PC but so far the console multiplayer market has eluded them as other titles, particularly the Call of Duty series, have established themselves in recent years as the ones to beat.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is designed to please both old and new fans of the franchise. It will contain revamped graphics as well as remakes of levels from previous versions of Counter-Strike but it will also have all new maps, weapons and gameplay modes that should attract new players into the fold.