Image credit: Valve

Last week we reported on a leak that Valve was teasing something big for this Wednesday.

While we originally allowed a measure of caution, the optimistic assumption was, in the end, accurate: Counter-Strike 2 is now live and replacing your CS:GO in the Steam library.

Do not mourn the loss of CS:GO, however. CS2 comes with a flurry of technical improvements, including overhauled lighting, retouched maps, and, perhaps most importantly to many: upgraded server architecture. On a personal level, your weapon skins are safely transferred, so you don’t have to worry your valuable trades and victories are lost like tears in the rain.

And, of course, it remains free to play for everybody who has a Steam account, but the most dedicated folk can get the Prime Status upgrade for a selection of neat perks.