When Valve dropped a surpriseCS2update on April 25, nobody would have predicted that Overpass would be removed from the Active Duty Group map pool. That’s what the developer has done, however, and it’s safe to say that it has caused major controversy among players.
Overpass received a major overhaul with therelease ofCounter-Strike 2, completing updating the graphics to make it one ofCS2‘s prettiest maps. Despite all that work on it, Valve has decided to remove it from the map pool, replacing it with Dust2.
Safe to say, this hasn’t gone down well withCS2fans and has been met with almost unanimous criticism from everyone who enjoys watching or playing the game.
In a Reddit post on the /r/GlobalOffensive subreddit,CS2players aired their grievances about the decision, saying that it “actually sucks,” while anothercalledit the “worst map pool ever.”
“I didn’t see a single person asking for Overpass to be removed. Same thing with Dust 2 being added back,” wrotesecond_pls. “Overpass was the most tactically interesting map in pro play, and Dust 2 is horrid to watch pro matches. Very disappointed personally, the map pool was already difficult to watch pro matches on and they removed one of my favorites and added my least favorite.”
It’s definitely a difficult decision to understand, that’s for sure. Overpass had been completely overhauled, while a map like Vertigo hasn’t been. Why remove the map you spent so long working on, but leave one that hasn’t been updated?
On top of that, Valve teased the return of an overhauled Train in theCS2launch trailer, but almost a year on, we’ve yet to see it. Everyone expected it to be the next map added to the pool, but instead, we’re getting Dust2.
One leading theory behind this decision is that Crossfire, a tactical FPS that’s big in China, has a version of Dust2. With the lastCS2Major taking place in Shanghai, interest in the game is peaking, and having a map that is familiar could help Valve draw in even more fans in the region.
For those of us who have played the game for a while though, this is a painful day, and I don’t think there are many who are looking forward to playing Dust2 again.
