My word, it just keeps happening. For the past several days, activity by Valve in the Steam backend seemingly pointed to the release of an updated version of its flagship FPS game in the form of CSGO Source 2. Now, however, it looks like we could be getting closer to a full sequel and the Counter-Strike 2 release date – fresh trademark filings, connected to both Global Offensive and something tellingly labelled ‘CS2’ seem to suggest that Counter-Strike 2 is on the way.
To quickly recap, Valve has made a series of changes to the CSGO Steam archive this week, adding new executable files dubbed ‘CS2’ as well as updates and changes to the Counter-Strike Global Offensive beta platform.
Initially, it seemed like the long-awaited engine update, CSGO Source 2, was imminently on its way, but a bit of digging into the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seems to suggest this could be a full Counter-Strike 2 instead.
On March 14, Valve Corporation submitted a trademark application to the USPTO for something called ‘CS2.’ If that’s not enough on its own, the filing contains a ‘related properties section’ which outlines any other Valve trademarks to which CS2 may be connected. This section contains two serial numbers – searching these two serial numbers reveals two other Valve properties, Counter-Strike and CSGO.
Below you can see the CS2 filing, with the related serial numbers highlighted:
And here, the CSGO trademark filing with the matching registration number:
To put it more simply, Valve has filed a new trademark for something called CS2 which is linked as an intellectual property to the Counter-Strike and CSGO brands. There’s a startling conspiracy theory at the moment regarding CS2’s launch somehow being connected to the US version of The Office – you can read about that here. These new trademark filings, however, seem to offer us something more solid.
If Counter-Strike 2 really is on its way, best get grinding on those CSGO ranks, or maybe familiarising yourself with the best CSGO crosshairs. Alternatively, you might want to kill time with the best free Steam games currently available.
