Massive Counter-Strike mod blocked from Steam release by Valve after eight years in development

After eight years in development, a huge mod for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been blocked from a Steam release by Valve at the final hurdle.

The mod, Classic Offensive, says it has “the goal of bringing back the community aspects and aesthetics of CS,” suggesting the game had become too focused on skins. Essentially, it wants to become the ultimate nostalgia trip back to Counter-Strike 1.6, using the newer visuals of CS:GO.

Classic Offensive mod blocked from Steam release

Image via Counter-Strike: Classic Offensive team

Classic Offensive made it through the now-retired Steam Greenlight system back in 2017, offering hope that it would eventually be able to release a free modification to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam.

With the release build submitted to Steamworks for review back in October, the team behind the mod received no response over the holiday season, delaying plans to launch on December 25, 2024. Now, in a statement on X, the Classic Offensive team has confirmed that the mod’s app has been retired “without any reason explained” after eight years of development.

The retirement of the Classic Offensive app essentially kills its chances of being released on Steam, even after making “some requested legal changes due to the usage of Valve’s IP.” According to the creator, “The project has been sticking to the guidelines on how to release a mod on Steam,” and the team has “followed the requirements and recommendations to the letter.”

The Classic Offensive project has received no communication from Valve since late 2020, and at no point was it directed to stop work on the project. It’s described as “an even worse form of Cease and Desist,” with the team feeling “required to tell any modding team related to Valve projects to reconsider what they’re doing if their sole way of releasing is through Steam.”

After eight years, their frustration is completely understandable, and the aim is to “try to get in contact with Valve employees… to try to get things moving in the right direction.” Whether it can be resolved fully remains to be seen.

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