All the new graphics options coming in CS2

William Davis Published 20/05/2023

Counter-Strike 2 will completely overhaul the game’s graphics, and that means a ton of new options to play with.

CSGO players looking to level up their game often turn to pro settings to replicate the exact same experience that wins championships. Video settings are a big part of it, and CS2 is already confirmed to feature legacy options like 3:4 ratios, black bars, and more. But the Source 2 engine will also bring new options to enhance anti-aliasing, shadows, in-game performance, and much more.

CS2 to feature new graphics anti-aliasing options

Opening up the CS2 graphics menu will reveal the option to switch to CMAA2, a new form of anti-aliasing not available in Global Offensive. CMAA2 is effectively an upgraded form of FXAA, which is the “budget” AA option in many PC games. MSAA will remain the option for players who value peak visual clarity over maximum FPS.

Developed by Intel, CMAA2 has improved performance over FXAA in both graphical fidelity and performance. Anti-aliased edges are slightly smoother and closer to the original image, but it’s less taxing on hardware than traditional FXAA. Intel has officially stopped the development of CMAA2, making it a surprise inclusion in the new graphics options for CS2.

CS2 would let you turn off shadows entirely

In addition to boosting performance with optimized anti-aliasing, CS2 players on low-end computers appear to be able to turn off dynamic shadows entirely. The only visible shadows will be those that are already programmed into the map, so things like swaying trees and wires won’t drag down your FPS. For gameplay reasons, player shadows will continue to render, so don’t worry about giving up holding the catwalk from CT on Dust 2.

This wasn’t possible in the original Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and it should have a significant impact on game performance. Shadows are some of the most taxing graphical options in games, and Source 2 is no exception. For those with powerful graphics cards, CS2 will keep all of the high-end shadow options with all the benefits of the engine update.

Read Also

News

The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027 Ben Boland The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...

Esports Betting

MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...

Counter-Strike

CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More Owen Harsono Top-tier Counter-Strike action returns at the Esports World Cup, as 32 of the best teams will take the trip to Paris to compete for millions of dollars. If you’re looking to watch the event, here’s everything you need to know and which teams to keep an eye on. The Esports World Cup is one of the largest CS2 events if we’re looking at prize pools, as $2,000,000 will be distributed ...

News

Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports? Cecilia Ciocchetti What happens when an industry compresses centuries of sporting evolution into less than a decade or two? Communities become global audiences overnight, rivalries spread through social media within minutes, and tournaments turn into entertainment products faster than ever before. And so what took traditional sports centuries to build has taken esports a fraction of that. From local communities to sold out arenas, and from informal matches to Olympic-style events, the ...

Counter-Strike

BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final? Owen Harsono The top four teams we’re seeing at the BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-finals are far from what anyone would expect before the tournament began, but here we are. We’re only three matches from crowning a winner, so let’s take a look at the best BLAST Bounty semi-final predictions for both upcoming matchups. Starting the semi-finals off is a banger of a series between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, which is one ...

Counter-Strike

We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps Owen Harsono If you’re a Counter-Strike player, you probably have that one map you always ban first in every Premier game — and you're not alone as almost everyone has one too. Below, we’ll take a look at the most hated maps in Counter-Strike history and explain why they are disliked by the community at large. Anubis is one of the newer releases in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, but it has ...

Counter-Strike

The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked Owen Harsono Pulling off an impossible clutch is one of the greatest hits of dopamine any Counter-Strike 2 player can ever feel. However, pulling them off at the highest level can be a little tricky since everyone is so coordinated. That’s exactly why mind-blowing clutches are remembered forever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the 10 best clutches in Counter-Strike history. We’re opening the list with former mousesports ...