Valve Confirms Counter-Strike 2 for macOS Won’t Happen Due to Low Demand

Valve has confirmed that while Counter-Strike 2 is now widely available via Steam on PC, macOS support of the game will not arrive.

This year, Valve surprised fans of the insanely popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) by announcing Counter-Strike 2. A pseudo successor and upgrade to the competitive FPS game, Valve original launched it as a closed beta prior to a wide launch. However, while PC players are now in on the action, Mac players won’t be included in the fun.

Seen by MacRumors, Valve updated its Steam support FAQ this week. In it, the company describes Counter-Strike 2’s major upgrade and how it paves the way for the future.

As technology advances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems,” Valve states. “Similarly, we will no longer support macOS. Combined, these represented less than one percent of active CS:GO players.

As Valve released Counter-Strike 2 to a wider audience, CS:GO players on Mac devices were hit with a mandatory 26GB update. Following the installation, the game was rendered unplayable. Unfortunately, Valve offered no rollback options, leaving Mac players by the dust.

The publisher does confirm that Mac players are eligible for a Prime Status Upgrade, refunding them if most of their playtime was on macOS. Players must also have had to be playing CS:GO on a Mac between March 22, 2023 and September 27, 2023. This window coincides with the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test and the launch of the game. Refunds are available until December 1st, 2023.

For those eager to continue playing CS:GO on Mac, Valve confirms that players can access a “frozen build” of the game. It has all the features of the base game except for official matchmaking. Support of this build will end on January 1st, 2024, however. After this, the game will still be available. Thoough, certain functions that rely on compatibility with the Game Coordinator may fail.