Modders in the Counter-Strike 2 launched in 2023 and officially replaced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, this fan remake is billing itself as an old-school experience for hardcore Counter-Strike players who miss how Valve's tactical shooter series used to feel, while including modern technical enhancements.

This fan remake comes from the developers of CSPromod, a competitive-oriented fan project dating back to 2006, in response to Valve's release of Counter-Strike: Source (via Valve Developer Community). Featured in the first CS:Legacy trailer are views of older maps with a fresh coat of paint and some bits of gunplay and combat. The developers are promoting CS:Legacy not as a mod, but as a "fully standalone" game that was "built from the ground up."

Everything We Know About Counter-Strike: Legacy

CS:GO Remade With Modern Enhancements

According to the developers, CS:Legacy will launch on Steam in early access in 2025. The trailer's YouTube description reveals that the remake is built on Valve's official 2013 Source Engine SDK codebase with the developers' own "major rewrites to the renderer, shaders, and various systems." On the Patreon, the developers even make the bold claim that they've "improved" the Source Engine.

The trailer showcases a number of older maps, showcasing the graphical improvements made to these familiar spaces. From the video, it looks like the movement and environments shown should match your memories of classic Counter-Strike. The developers of CS:Legacy claim that "every mechanic, movement, and weapon behavior is faithfully replicated" from Counter-Strike 1.6, but players will have to get their hands on it to check that claim.

If fans decide to the project through Patreon, the developers promise rewards including exclusive early access builds, developer insights, and even voting power on possible features for the game.

Fans' Taking Projects Into Their Own Hands Is A Great Thing

Creators Keeping Communities Alive With Their Dedication

This isn't the first time that fans have been a giant factor in enhancing existing game experiences, with plenty of games massively ed by thriving mod communities. CS:Legacy is no exception to that, with the team behind it attempting to faithfully replicating classic Counter-Strike gameplay to a tee so that players can once again experience a game they've missed with vastly different graphics. Based on early fan reception of the CS:Legacy announcement, the project could pay off, with over 200,000 views and nearly 2,000 excited comments on YouTube.

Nostalgic players like shot down the Counter-Strike: Classic Offensive project this year, which was an attempt to replicate Counter-Strike 1.6 gameplay in CS:GO. Hopefully fans won't be disappointed this time.

Source: CS:Legacy/Steam, CS:Legacy/YouTube