Counter-Strike 2 makes a radical change to how guns reload, and fans are pissed

Valve has made a major change to Counter-Strike 2, specifically how guns reload in the popular first-person shooter. For some players, it will be a nightmare, forcing them to strategically rethink when to reload. But for players with a healthy relationship to reloading video game guns, it will be no big deal.

Here’s how the Counter-Strike development team explained the change in an update posted to Steam on Wednesday:

When you reload in CS2, the leftover ammo in your magazine is dumped back into an essentially endless reserve supply. And so the decision to reload has never offered significant trade-offs—in a safe position with enough time, you might reload after firing a single bullet, or half a mag, or after firing down to empty, and the rest of the round would be unaffected.

We think the decision to reload should have higher stakes, so in today’s update reloading has been redesigned. Now, when you reload, you’ll drop the used magazine and discard all of its remaining ammo. Instead of ‘topping off’ your weapon with a few bullets, a new full magazine will be taken from the reserves whenever you reload.

In other words, if you’re a sicko like me who hates realism and reloads their gun after firing, like, three bullets, this is going to destroy you. But if you think Counter-Strike should be more realistic, and that the simple act of reloading should have stakes, this is probably good news.

In accordance with the change, Valve says that most ammo reserves “have gotten a three clips fill-up, but some weapons will have less to reward efficiency and precision, or more to encourage spamming through walls and smokes.”

“Keep an eye on your reserve supply!” Valve says.

Unsurprisingly, a change of this magnitude in a game like Counter-Strike 2 hasn’t gone over well with some players. Losing ammunition from a dropped, partially depleted magazine isn’t the norm for shooting games, which are typically quite generous. Some more realistic military sims (and games like Helldivers 2) handle ammunition more seriously to align with gameplay. Suffice it to say, this is not the update to CS2 that many players have been begging for.

“REVERT THE RELOAD CHANGE IMMEDIATELY,” screams one top comment on Steam.

“Focus on providing a better experience instead,” another top comment says. “You can start by improving the anti-cheat.”

While much of the feedback seems framed around “Why do this thing when this other thing needs to be fixed?”-style complaints, time will tell if players will adjust to the new reloading rules or if Valve will reverse the change. Counter-Strike has always been in flux, with Valve adding and removing controversial features over the past 25 years. One thing’s for certain, it’s certainly bound to change some players’ fortunes in the heat of battle, and that will be fun (to watch).