CSGO fan ports Dust 2 into Source 2 and it looks amazing

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans have long wondered what the game would look like in Source 2, and one fan took it into their own hands to find out.

YouTuber Gabe Follower has been experimenting on a number of different Valve titles, including CSGO. One of those experiments is porting parts of CSGO into s&box, the spiritual successor to Garry’s Mod that runs in Source 2. Gabe Follower seems to have the entirety of Dust 2 now operational in s&box, giving fans a sample of what could be if the game was moved over.

i've been working on porting @csgo assets to s&box on source 2 this week, here's what I've been able to do so far pic.twitter.com/On6Cp3BoS2

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) November 29, 2021

The visual differences between the current iteration of CSGO on the Source Engine and this fanmade port are stark. Lighting is more dynamic in Source 2 than what fans are accustomed to seeing in the original Source engine. Some of the finer textures also look sharper, with more definition to the cracked areas on walls and sandy floors. Though the individual differences for each component aren’t radical, the sum of all the improvements makes for a much better-looking version of Dust 2.

Unfortunately, this remains just a fan mock-up of what this would look like. The prospects of CSGO being moved to a new engine remain bleak.

Is Source 2 coming to CSGO?

At this point, it seems unlikely that CSGO will be fully converted to Source 2.

CSGO is nine years old and it seems pretty clear that Valve’s plans is to refine the game within its current engine rather than move it to a new one. In 2017, a Valve developer discussed the development team’s approach to moving CSGO into Source 2 on Reddit.

“For CSGO, we evaluate these new systems on their individual merits. Some CSGO rework is in progress, such as the UI that utilizes parts of Source 2. Other systems might follow. Some Source 2 systems might never be right for CSGO,” the developer said.

This was backed up by a “relevant anecdote” discussing how Valve discussed the expectations regarding Source 2 with pro players. One of the things players were expecting was better hitboxes. Instead, the developers simply tightened up the hitboxes in the existing CSGO engine.

By all accounts, transplanting CSGO into the Source 2 engine would be an enormous endeavor that could impact how the game performs in a variety of ways. Valve might even prefer to create a new Counter-Strike in the Source 2 engine than to invest significant resources into ironing out a new Source 2 version of CSGO.