Counter-Strike 2 has not reached its prime yet

Rodrigo García serves as the Director of Growth Markets and International Projects at ESL FaceIt Group. Alongside discussing the esports bubble and the future Esports World Cup, our conversation delved into various competitive titles, including EAFC 24, Dota 2, and the newly released Counter-Strike 2, as reflected in the following interview excerpt.

Reflecting on the transition to CS2, García observes, "CSGO has had a longstanding presence in the gaming world, and it had really found its place," when questioned about the significance of moving on to CS2 for the community and event organizers. "People were really enthusiastic about it, the ecosystem was stable... It was like a well-aged wine to draw a comparison."

He proceeds in the video, with CS: GO being phased out, saying, "With CS2, there was this push and pull – the community was adamant about wanting the game immediately, and there was a lot of anticipation to jump in. But there was also the expectation for the developers to take their time to get it right. Now that the game is out, we're seeing somewhat of a paradox with the community. Some aspects aren't quite up to par, right?"

García asserts when discussing Valve's strategy, "You can't have it both ways. You cannot expect something to arrive very quickly and to be perfect out of the gate. As you mentioned, ESL FaceIt Group recently hosted a major tournament in Australia featuring Counter-Strike 2. We did face some technical challenges. The game isn't fully refined yet, and it needs more work to smooth out some issues. With its release, there's undoubtedly been a spike in player interest, eager to try the new offering. How this interest will level out over time remains to be seen. Regardless, we are looking forward to the game reaching the same level of refinement that Global Offensive had achieved, which has now receded into the past," he concludes with a dismissive gesture.