How Big Is Counter-Strike’s MR12 Change?
The date for Counter-Strike 2’s release date is still quite elusive with the Summer of 2023 window quickly changing and seemingly a huge number of changes still to come to the game, but as the limited test has been rolled out to a much larger audience and feedback flowing in, it seems Valve is set on making these changes quickly and efficiently in hopes of seeing its latest esports update flourish and compete with the other big games.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes to come was announced a few days ago, however, alongside the launch of the Premier competitive game mode for Counter-Strike 2, and this is a change to MR12 for both the major tournament events and regular play, which will be expected to be a norm across the tournament circuit. Players a little longer in the tooth will remember the MR12 days from nearly two decades ago, but the game has long been played under the MR15 format and developed an entire competitive scene around this format too, as such the change is quite significant.
Counter-Strikes biggest competitor in Riot Games title Valorant had launched with the MR12 format so will be familiar to players who have already made the change, and from Valve’s own statement much of the change has come from work put in place over a number of years to trim the number of unneeded rounds and a smoother gameplay experience, the shorter format seen in Valorant is certainly noticeable in tournament play and most casual players would likely agree that the shorter format works for casual competitive games too, but changes to things like in-game economy and other meta changes will likely be expected.
It’s also somewhat yet unknown how this will impact pro play and the professional scene too, as one of the premier esports games on the market over the years markets like CSGO bitcoin betting have continued to grow and thrive, but much of the Counter-Strike scene now consists of veteran players who have drilled and know the longer format, it could be quite a large adjustment to a shorter format and could also see a shake-up in which teams are on top and which are slower to adapt.
Whatever the view may be, it’s quite an exciting change for Counter-Strike as a whole, whilst the series has evolved, some parts of the core game have largely remained unchanged for over two decades and in terms of a competitive setting the change to MR12 signals one of these major changes. To keep up with modern game expectations and what the audience really do want these changes are needed, and with Counter-Strike at the height of its popularity and the new release on the horizon, its as good a time as ever to make this change and see how it impacts the game overall.
There are still plenty of questions to be answered with the release of Counter-Strike 2 as well come a full release, the biggest is how effective the new anti-cheat approach will be given the issues Global Offensive has been experiencing, there are also the tick-rate changes too for a smoother gaming experience which on official servers has also been less than ideal thus far.
For those that don’t have access to the limited beta test, it’s yet unknown if more invite waves will go out, but with the potential for release being so close many are hopefully there’s not that long to wait – with the game reaching a peak of 1,560,435 on August 31st after the latest wave of invites, rest assured there is more than enough testing going on and a lot to be excited about.
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