Valve Says Counter-Strike 2 for macOS Not Happening Because There Aren't Enough Players on Mac to Justify It

[MacRumors]

Valve on Monday said it has no plans for a macOS version of the recently released game Counter-Strike 2, the follow-up title replacing the hugely popular FPS Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Valve confirmed its decision and gave its reasons in a newly published Steam support FAQ:

As technology advances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. Similarly, we will no longer support macOS. 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.

Last month's release of Counter-Strike 2 forced a 26GB update for everyone with CS:GO, including Mac users, but after installation those on macOS soon discovered that the update makes the original game as well as the update unplayable because of the lack of support and no rollback option.

Valve now says Mac players will be eligible for a Prime Status Upgrade refund if most of their CS:GO playtime was on macOS and they played CS:GO on a Mac between the announcement of the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test (March 22, 2023) and the launch of Counter-Strike 2 (September 27, 2023), regardless of when they purchased their Prime Status Upgrade. Valve will offer the refunds until December 1, 2023.

Valve added that those who wish to continue playing CS:GO on macOS will be able to access a legacy version or "frozen build" of the game, which has all the features of CS:GO except for official matchmaking. Support for this version of CS:GO will end on January 1, 2024. After this date, the game will still be available, but certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (e.g., access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail, according to Valve.

Despite Valve's refund offer to Mac users, the news that a macOS version of Counter-Strike 2 is not in active development will come as a bitter blow to many players. Though CS:GO launched all the way back in 2012, it's still one of the most popular FPS games available today, with tens of millions of players logging in each month. So even if less than 1 percent of the user base is on Mac, that could still account for hundreds of thousands of players.

Regardless of numbers, one of the reasons Valve is reluctant to develop CS2 for Mac is that Apple devices do not provide native support for the Vulkan API that the game is based on. Vulkan was designed to succeed OpenGL and address some of the latter's shortcomings, and while there is an open-source library called MoltenVK that provides a Vulkan implementation on top of Apple's Metal graphics API, it still lacks some of Vulkan's advanced features.

Article Link: Valve Says Counter-Strike 2 for macOS Not Happening Because There Aren't Enough Players on Mac to Justify It

 

[MayaUser]

Lets make a petition here...to save this...lets find 500 players

 

[Zc456]

Now that they have their own console, they have even less of a motivation.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Apple do appear to be leaning into gaming a lot more over the last 18 months. Hopefully these low-level API issues can be resolved in the future.

 

[fhall1]

Catch-22

 

[winxmac]

Apple is now trying to get as many gamers and game developers to switch to Mac and now this? Valve not allowing Mac users to play the game because there are not enough users to support?

I've played Counter-Strike back when it was just a mod of Half-Life and I was only a Windows user back then... I have stopped playing computer or mobile games for about 20 years now but there are a few titles that I would still want to play whenever I have time... Counter-Strike 1.3, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Need for Speed Underground 2, Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005) just to name a few...

 

[Infuspeur]

Or install Chrome Browser on MacOS and play in GeForce NOW.

 

[Mr_Ed]

Apple do appear to be leaning into gaming a lot more over the last 18 months. Hopefully these low-level API issues can be resolved in the future.

Yeah, well, from. AAA gaming perspective, Apple is still “late to the LAN party”, as they have been from the early days of personal computer gaming. They opted out early on by not prioritizing gaming in any way and they got left behind. Mac became the computer you went to to get work done but if you wanted to play, you had to go elsewhere and no amount of work on supposedly superior graphics API is going to move the user numbers much at all.

 

[FyrStrike]

Yeah, I never game on my Mac. It’s more of a productivity tool for me. But Apple does need to get into conventional gaming to fill that gap. And do it properly. Not some weird method that’s too unconventional. Somethings that’s like an Xbox or PlayStation and then transition the user experience with those new Vision Pro’s. I got an Xbox simply because I have the option to play with a mouse and keyboard on most games. Just like a PC. Apple needs to get into it.

 

[ivayle]

Imagine being Valve making millions of dollars per month for selling skins in Counter Strike.

Now imagine again being Valve creating a new version of Counter Strike (still a half baked product btw) not willing to support a brand new trend in processors and gpu power because the old statistics say only 1% of players use macOS.

Let be honest the macOS version of CS:GO sucked in the past, but also the hardware it was running on.

This was a perfect opportunity to gain macOS gaming momentum for Counter Strike (new hardware and new version of the game) and they decided to throw it away... to save money.

 

[quaresma]

Or install Chrome Browser on MacOS and play in GeForce NOW.

You don’t need Chrome browser to do that, you can just download the GFN app

 

[Polaroid]

What a dumb outlook - why not use this opportunity to draw NEW and MORE players in, plenty game on Mac but Mac will never been taken seriously for gaming if no devs put the time and effort in to optimise their games.

 

[andrewxgx]

Now that they have their own console, they have even less of a motivation.

first of all, thats an amazing piece of hardware with experience no phone can match.

but then, no one really plays CS on a Deck

so not sure whats your point here

 

[NagasakiGG]

Just get a boat and sail into the ocean to find a version of Parallels (I don't support their yearly upgrade sh*t). That's how I have been doing for ages.

 

[apocalyarts]

I said it before and I say it again: Apple needs to pay up and explicitly fund the ports for specific marquee titles in order for mac gaming to take off. Doesn't matter which M1234 chips they have or how many game porting toolkits they develop.

This train will not leave the station, if Apple doesn't throw the coal into the engine themselves.

 

[andrewxgx]

Imagine being Valve making millions of dollars per month for selling skins in Counter Strike.

Now imagine again being Valve creating a new version of Counter Strike (still a half baked product btw) not willing to support a brand new trend in processors and gpu power because the old statistics say only 1% of players use macOS.

Let be honest the macOS version of CS:GO sucked in the past, but also the hardware it was running on.

This was a perfect opportunity to gain macOS gaming momentum for Counter Strike (new hardware and new version of the game) and they decided to throw it away... to save money.

not really

given CS is game made for years it makes perfect sense to wait if titles like Resident Evil will actually sell before investing resources in it.

they dont really gain anything by being first here.

not to mention that Apple wants to go after casual/console gamers, not custom-PC/tuning/LED-everywhere guys.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

Valve added that those who wish to continue playing CS:GO on macOS will be able to access a legacy version or "frozen build" of the game, which has all the features of CS:GO except for official matchmaking

...and that is found... where?

Last I checked there was nothing but CS2 in my steam library.

 

[Kissmo1980]

What a dumb outlook - why not use this opportunity to draw NEW and MORE players in, plenty game on Mac but Mac will never been taken seriously for gaming if no devs put the time and effort in to optimise their games.

I could see how having competitive e-sports gaming ported to mac, would be more appealing for gamers to not shy away from Macs.

Either Apple would bring push harder to get multiple competitive games at once, or focus on AAA titles single player and over time, as more an more users have built a library, might consider Macs as their only machine.

Competitive gamers invested tons in gaming gear and I think they still have the impression that a lot of those don't fully get supported on a Mac - not to mention that they already have their PCs with an extensive library on Steam or wherever.
Buying a mac just to play a few games won't justify yet - especially that these are quite expensive (amazing devices, I love them, and good value, but still.... not cheap)

Might take a bit more time...

 

[H2SO4]

Apple is now trying to get as many gamers and game developers to switch to Mac and now this? Valve not allowing Mac users to play the game because there are not enough users to support?

I've played Counter-Strike back when it was just a mod of Half-Life and I was only a Windows user back then... I have stopped playing computer or mobile games for about 20 years now but there are a few titles that I would still want to play whenever I have time... Counter-Strike 1.3, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Need for Speed Underground 2, Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005) just to name a few...

You think that them encouraging gamers no after decades of not caring is supposed to make them all switch immediately? They will be looking at Apples track record of not caring, asking themselves if they will suddenly decide not to support a specific GPU, (ahem....), and such like and making a decision based on this.
I don't blame Valve.
I gave up on Mac gaming ages ago. I wanted to but was too hit and miss.

 

[Zc456]

first of all, thats an amazing piece of hardware with experience no phone can match.

but then, no one really plays CS on a Deck

so not sure whats your point here

I never said it wasn't. I have one myself. My point was Valve is just going to invest in their own hardware like Apple invest in their own.

 

[Kraszim]

You can expect this to continue happening for as long as Apple pushes Metal and refuses to support Vulkan. People are not going to design desktop class games around API that has single platform use. Blizzard did the same thing, with dropping macOS support in their newest titles, although they for now keep the old ones working. If macOS wants to get anywhere is desktop game support it has to be a case "why not support it" instead of "we need to make a Metal compatible version of our engine".

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Can't exactly blame them can you?

 

[Kalixt]

Sad, I used to play CS:GO from time to time when I was not home. It wasn't the best experience but it was playable (Gold nova 2-4). Biggest problem was unstable FPS when someone throw HE, smoke etc, drops from 90 to 60 was pretty regular.

 

[4odomi]

Valve on Monday said it has no plans for a macOS version of the recently released game Counter-Strike 2, the follow-up title replacing the hugely popular FPS Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Valve confirmed its decision and gave its reasons in a newly published Steam support FAQ:
Last month's release of Counter-Strike 2 forced a 26GB update for everyone with CS:GO, including Mac users, but after installation those on macOS soon discovered that the update makes the original game and the update unplayable because of the lack of support and no rollback option.

Valve now says Mac players will be eligible for a Prime Status Upgrade refund if most of their CS:GO playtime was on macOS and they played CS:GO on a Mac between the announcement of the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test (March 22, 2023) and the launch of Counter-Strike 2 (September 27, 2023), regardless of when they purchased their Prime Status Upgrade. Valve will offer the refunds until December 1, 2023.

Valve added that those who wish to continue playing CS:GO on macOS will be able to access a legacy version or "frozen build" of the game, which has all the features of CS:GO except for official matchmaking. Support for this version of CS:GO will end on January 1, 2024. After this date, the game will still be available, but certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (e.g., access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail, according to Valve.

Despite Valve's refund offer to Mac users, the news that a macOS version of Counter-Strike 2 is not in active development will come as a bitter blow to many players. Though CS:GO launched all the way back in 2012, it's still one of the most popular FPS games available today, with tens of millions of players logging in each month. So even if less than 1 percent of the user base is on Mac, that could still account for hundreds of thousands of players.

Regardless of numbers, one of the reasons Valve is reluctant to develop CS2 for Mac is that Apple devices do not provide native support for the Vulkan API that the game is based on. Vulkan was designed to succeed OpenGL and address some of the latter's shortcomings, and while there is an open-source library called MoltenVK that provides a Vulkan implementation on top of Apple's Metal graphics API, it still lacks some of Vulkan's advanced features.

Article Link: Valve Says Counter-Strike 2 for macOS Not Happening Because There Aren't Enough Players on Mac to Justify It

I'm not a gamer, but this company lacks vision and certainly doesn't look after their customer base 😏

 

[Zmmyt]

What a shame. I would buy a vision pro if it could run CS2