New Counter-Strike to Include PS3-PC/Mac Cross-Platform Play
by Craig Getting on August 25, 2011 9:31 PM EST
Valve’s doubling down on the PlayStation 3. In a preview published late Thursday, Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo reported that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the newest iteration of the popular Counter-Strike franchise, will feature cross-platform play between PS3 and PC/Mac players.
Though players can create endless loops of de_dust on their own private servers, Valve will be running official servers for skill-based matchmaking. PC, Mac, and PS3 users will be matched up regardless of platform. Xbox 360 players will be confined to matches with other 360 owners. How Valve will balance play between users on keyboard and mouse versus players using a gamepad or PlayStation Move (which the PS3 version will support) remains to be seen.
Despite CEO Gabe Newell’s previous dismissal of the PS3, Valve is showing strong support for Sony’s platform, citing the openness of its publication model with respect to Microsoft’s. Portal 2, released this April, allowed for cross-platform play between PS3 and PC/Mac, and the PS3 version came with a code for Portal 2 on Steam.
Counter-Strike: GO, announced two weeks ago, looks to be a marriage of beloved shooting tradition with the newest Source engine tech. Those attending PAX this weekend can see what Kotaku saw for themselves, and Counter-Strike veterans looking for in-depth coverage would do well to read Craig Torbull’s comparision of CS: GO to its predecessors over at ESEA News.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
View All Comments
Hrel - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
Balance gameplay between consoles and PC? Wow, isn't this argument done yet? Keyboard and mouse is an INFERIOR method of control for most video games, not RTS obviously. Some people are better with mouse, some with joysticks. I'm so sick of hearing this, SHUT YOUR FUCKING FACE!!!!Red Storm - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
It never was an argument, keyboard and mouse is far superior to a console controller, especially when it comes to FPS games.Maybe this is why I read this game will have no recoil, they're trying to level the playing field. I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of artificial limitation for the PC side to help the analog sticks even more.
Impulses - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
It's gonna be a massacre unless they completely gimp the PC controls and/or give console players a bevy of auto aim aids that PC users won't get... Even then, I doubt it'll even lead to parity. System's just gonna end up rarely matchimg up any console player against any competent PC player.Didn't MS try this already on a shooter no one bought? Shadow something, I remember PC Gamer running a match against the editors of a console mag and destroying them. They might've done it with Halo too (all on PC, but some playing with game pads and others with keyboard & mouse).
quiksilvr - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
This is what they will most likely do:1) When you see a match you want to join, a keyboard icon will be there, indicating PC gamers are on it.
2) Remember, the PS3 has keyboard and mouse support as well, so when you plug it in and you are hosting a match, a keyboard icon will be shown there as well.
PubFiction - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
Personally I think all they need to do is let the match making system work and everything will be fine. If there is some Terrible player on a PC what is wrong with them playing against decent console players. Also they are allowing at least PS3 players to use mouse and keyboard so other than their machines running at lower fps they should be fine.So in effect you ability to play determines your skill level and you are matched against other people with similar skill level. If you get good enough with a move, or controller you should be able to play people on PCs.
JKflipflop98 - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
That's +1 for matchmaking then. Good point.WhamBham - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
Yeah matchmaking should work since it filters out how bad or good you are with a certain input device and strains it all down to how good you are period. In this instance a good PC player can be paired with a better console player.inighthawki - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
You're joking right, do you seriously believe that? Sounds to me like you've never played a game on a PC, or at very least haven't bothered trying to learn how to use a mouse+keyboard for longer than the 5 minutes you got frustrated with not having a joystick. It's pretty rare to find a game that plays better with a joystick. Sure they exist, but most games can play equally as well, if not FAR better (FPS, RTS) with a mouse and keyboard. This is not even debatable.There is no matter of "some are better with <Input Device>," 99% of games play better with a mouse and keyboard. Period.
damianrobertjones - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
FPS = keyboard/mouseDriving games = X box controller
Lego Harrp otter/Indy/Star wars = Xbox controller
C&C type games = keyboard/mouse
I'd hardly say it was 99% of games
inighthawki - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
So your third example seems to be several completely different genres, all of which are completely playable just as easily on a mouse and keyboard, if not better in some cases. Your fourth example is just hilarious, referring to strategy games as "C&C type games" which implies to me you either wrote that post without much thought or you honestly haven't played games on the PC much at all. (I would say RTS but there are non-realtime strategy games that can fall under the same category). The only other category I will give to a controller is classic games (like nes/snes/etc) only because their designs were optimized for a controller experience. Controllers do tend to work better in general for 2D games, especially platformers and RPGs.