Counter-Strike is at an all time high for its popularity. The hype coming from all the exciting news recently regarding the release of CS2 and the excitement of some of the best Majors that the game has ever seen has gotten excitement for the game at an all time high. With gaming and esports scenes taking form across a variety of platforms, should we ever expect a CSGO mobile experience?

Starting out as a port

We should start out by saying that, as of right this moment, you cannot play Counter-strike on mobile.

When CS:GO’s development began, it was as port of Counter-Strike Source to come to current-gen consoles. It became over time a new Counter-Strike sequel to Counter-Strike Source after it was clear that there was more than a next gen coat of paint in the works. The Counter-Strike team at Valve were no strangers to managing the different versions across platforms. They even worked with Hidden Path Entertainment to help get the game running.

However, Valve announced that after 2016 there would no longer be cross platform play. This was due to the desire to maintain the PC version with frequent updates. It wouldn’t be feasible while paired with the console versions which were never updated a single time.

Can’t beat a mouse and keyboard

Logistics of managing a game as massive as Counter-strike on mobile aside, Counter-Strike is extremely tied to the mouse and keyboard. The more than 20 years from the original Counter-Strike to now CS2 is tied to clutch execution on a mouse and keyboard. Streaming a game to a mobile device while it is run off of a PC is becoming more and more popular. But the majority of competitive esports that are played on mobile devices run using touch screens, which wouldn’t adequately support the full range of actions needed to play a game of Counter-Strike, even with top CS2 aim trainers.

Source 2 potential for CSGO Mobile

With CS2’s Source 2 engine, the potential for a mobile Counter-Strike experience has picked up again. A CSGO mobile game running in source 2 would be more doable than the original source engine. Community figure and content creator Gabe Follower posted when studying the original CS2 leaks from the CS2 beta:

These strings and console commands may simply be leftovers from other games, but they are not exist in Dota 2 or the Aperture Desk Job. But they do exist in Dota Underlords and Artifact (games that were actually developed with iOS and Android in mind). In addition, Source 2 has… https://t.co/tLFFNrDNZv

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) March 23, 2023

The issues of splitting a player base and precise enough controls wouldn’t be solved outright by this. But there’s potentially a way forward for fans of the game looking for something on the go.