The current Counter Strike Global Offensive Map pool has not seen a change since 2013. The last new map in CS GO was added in December 2013, it’s been almost 4 years this addition. The Winter Offensive update brought us Overpass and Cobblestone.

During the initial few months post release in the competitive setting, the maps were extremely broken. They required regular tweaks and design changes to make them viable for tournament play. After significant changes to the maps, they have been one of the most stable and potentially best maps in Counter-Strike right now.

Map Redesigns

Valve is focussed on reworking the existing set of maps for the pro scene. Maps such as Nuke, Inferno, Dust 2, Train and Cobblestone were outdated and deserved a rework.

Valve’s aim to redesign several of the maps included aimed to accomplish the following:

Improve player readability throughout the map. Refine movement around the world including cover. Upgrade the visuals to be in line with a modern map.

The visual changes and the efficiency of the map redesign are easily evident at first glance. The maps have improved tremendously and they look very modern.

The New Inferno definitely feels much less CT sided than the old one. Nuke might still have problems, which is why they are adding it to the Wingman. They will be making experimental changes on the B site of the map and take feedback about these changes. Map redesigns are important to keep the meta abreast of the various changes to weaponry and the gameplay itself. The modern look on most of the reworked maps is very pleasing to the eye as well as helps in spotting the enemy player models.

While Map redesigns are a great way to keep the existing maps modern and up to date, they do not add variety to the existing map pool.

Where are the new maps?

Valve has refrained from adding new maps to the active duty map pool. There might be various reasons for the same, but it has resulted in the game feeling stale for the average player. The recent statistics of the average concurrent player base reducing ( by quite a margin) should be a wake-up call for the game developer.

They do not need to work on totally new maps from scratch. There is a thriving map development community which regularly creates new maps. Some maps which were seen in a competitive setting previously such as de_Season, Tucson could also be added to the active duty map pool. These maps are very competitive and there has been a lot of positive feedback on the maps.

There are several other maps such as Tuscan, Sub Zero and several others within the steam workshop which can be given a chance. Valve’s assistance would prove really beneficial to the mapcore community. They would be motivated to building new, esports ready maps for use. De_cache, developed by FMPOne is a great example of how a new map can be successful if given a chance. It remains one of the more balanced maps in the current map pool and it does not look like it would need a rework anytime soon.

An alternative to the current setting would be to keep adding new maps on an experimental basis. The developers could work on the maps’ faults based on feedback from the pro community. If Valve were to give them stamp of approval about the inclusion of new maps, the professional teams would test them out. They would check out the various problems and after regular scrims, they would have valuable feedback for the developer.

Do we need new maps? What are some of the options?

Addition of new maps to the existing pool keeps the scene exciting. New maps provide the necessary diversity in the professional scene. Four years without a new map is definitely a worrying sign for the majority. Counter-Strike has a rich history of competitive maps. Prior to Global Offensive, 1.6 was the most popular Counter-Strike game. It had a variety of competitive maps such as Contra, Mill, Fire. There were also other maps such as Prodigy, Tides which had a lot of potential for competitive development but did not see any work. Valve has a lot of options when it comes to choosing which map should make it to the pool.

Do we need new maps? Are the existing maps not enough? The map pool could do with a bit of variety. Right now viewers are used to seeing the same seven maps over and over again. With the lack of new features, the absence of a modern UI and a poor demo UI, addition of new maps could prove to be a nice addition to the feature-starved community.

As we mentioned earlier, there are several options in Global Offensive maps as well. Maps like Season, Tucson have seen competitive play in third-party ladder systems with relative success. The maps have been well-received by the community and the pro player alike.

de_Canals



Valve did add de_Canals to the map pool on March 15, 2017. The map was supposed to have the potential for esports, but it’s design left little room for improvement despite Valve’s best efforts. The community has not given a warm appreciation to the map, mostly due to its poor design. It might be a fun map to play in matchmaking, but it is definitely ready for the professional level.

The ideal time to add reworked maps into the active duty map pool

When Valve reworks an existing map, what is the ideal time to add it back to the active duty Map pool? Frankly, this should not be an issue and teams should have ample time to practice the map before it’s added to the pro circuit. However, recently, Valve added Dust 2 to the active duty map pool on April 21, 2018.

Dust2 will be used instead of Cobblestone in ESL events starting with #IEM Sydney and #ESLProLeague Finals in Dallas. pic.twitter.com/OsGUwdg6Q9 — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 23, 2018

This was immediately followed by several tournament organizers announcing that Dust 2 would be added to the tournament map pool with immediate effect. The first tournament to feature Dust 2 would be IEM Sydney 2018. This would leave just 3-4 days for teams to practice on Dust 2.Practicingg on a new map often takes time as teams have to figure out smokes, executes and the proper defense setup.

Ideally, tournament organizers should announce the addition of a new map only 15 days prior to the commencement of the event. This is ample time for teams to develop their strategies and work on their playstyle on these maps. If you announce a map addition just 3-4 days before the tournament, most of the teams are going to veto the map anyways. This will have the opposite intended effect of adding the map to the existing pool.

Dust 2 will first be visible at IEM Sydney 2018. The tournament commences on May 1st, 2018 and features a $250,000 prize pool. You can watch the tournament live on Facebook.