How To Check If You've Been Invited To The CS2 Beta
When Counter-Strike players logged onto their Steam accounts on March 22, 2023, they were in for a surprise of a lifetime. A moment everybody had been anticipating for years, so much so that it had become a running joke, had finally arrived when no one was expecting it. Valve had done the unthinkable. Players were greeted with the announcement for the impending release of Counter-Strike 2 in the summer of this year. Built on the brand new Source 2 engine, the announcement came alongside multiple trailers showcasing the new features and developments for the game and took the community by storm.
As news of the event started to break around the world, everyone and everything went into a frenzy. The Steam Community Market saw prices of items rising to heights never imagined before, with some items being listed and sold for more than 200% of their value prior to the announcement. Videos of in-game footage from content creators and others who were lucky enough to have gained access started to surface on YouTube, ecstatic at being the first ones to test out the new game. Some seemed bewildered and wondered how they could have been left out despite having huge followings and influence in the community.
There was no official comment from Valve to address these concerns from major influencers and regular players, except for an FAQ that detailed the criteria they had set for sending out test invitations. It has now been 4 months since CS2 was announced, and you might be wondering how you can get into the beta if you haven’t already received an invitation. In this article, we will give you a detailed look at the criteria Valve has set out for sending invites, how many times these invitations have been sent out, how you can check if you have already been invited, and finally, if you should wait or just give up hope on being part of the beta until the game is released. So let’s roll.
CS2 Limited Beta Test Entry Criteria
When the Beta launched in late March, it came with a detailed FAQ regarding the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test. The first item it addressed were the factors which majorly contribute towards the selection of players for the test, which were as follows:
- Recent playtime on official Valve servers: Players who have been active on official Valve servers with considerable playtime. Valve also later specified that they had excluded accounts involved in idling.
- Trust Factor: High trust factor accounts are typically Prime accounts that are observed to have a good standing which can be achieved from playing different games, not getting reported for cheating, and the overall time spent playing CS.
- Steam account standing: Refers to the Valve Anti-Cheat Status for your Steam account. Only accounts with no sort of VAC bans were assumed to be included in the Beta Testing.
The FAQ further stated that accounts with any type of lock would also be exempt from getting an invite. These are accounts that have been locked by Steam and are undergoing an inspection for various types of violations that usually end up with a ban.
Thousands of players who believed their accounts were fully compliant with the criteria waited in anticipation of an invitation to the beta.
Eezy Peezy Lemon Squeezy, right? Well, not quite.
Initial Limited Test Invitations
As it turned out, if only the criteria laid out above had been followed, a lot more players would have qualified for the Initial Limited Test Invitations. However, as a few days went by, it was starting to become apparent that there was more at play than was being let on.
The initial invites seemed like an effective way of building hype for the game and polishing it before letting a larger player base in, with a focus on hardcore Counter-Strike players, professional esports players, influential CS streamers, as well as content creators with large followings who focus on other online games. It seemed to be an effective tactic on the part of Valve to garner the highest possible amount of publicity for CS2, instead of focusing solely on letting in players who met the entry criteria.
After some community research, it was discovered that only about 3% of all active players had been invited to participate in the Beta.
The Second Invite Wave
The second wave to add further members of the player base took place on June 9, 2023. The patch released with the update included a reworked Mirage as the new addition to Unranked Matchmaking and a slew of new invitations to the player base. By certain estimates carried out by the community, it was concluded that an additional 1% of the player base was sent an invitation to the Limited Test, taking the overall tally to 4% of players now having access to CS2.
When Are The Next Limited Test Invites Going Out?
The third set of Limited Test invites went out earlier last week, on July 19, 2023. Read on to find out how you can check if you have been invited to the Limited Test Beta.
How To Check For An Invitation To The Limited Test
The only way to check for an invitation to the CS2 Beta is by launching the game through the Steam Platform. Once you are on the main in-game screen, check for a CS2 themed banner on the top left side, above the news panel. Once you click the banner, a pop-up will appear titled Limited Test Invitation, confirming that you have been invited to the test, stating its purpose, and asking you to click on the ENROLL button at the bottom of the pop-up to become a part of it.
The above is the only method of receiving and accepting an invitation to CS2. There have been reports of numerous scam attempts through emails, as well as some websites promising to provide access through the sale of beta keys or asking for your Steam login information. Do not be lured into such traps in the hopes of getting access or you risk leaving your account and inventory vulnerable to theft.
FAQs
Here, we’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions regarding the CS2 Beta and answered all of them for you.
I have not been sent an invitation to join the CS2 Limited Test. Do I stand any chance of getting it down the road?
The second and third invite waves were just a little over a month apart, and the rapid pace of updates and release of maps seems to suggest that this trend will likely continue. If the game itself does not launch in August, we have reason to believe that there is a possibility for another set of invites to be sent out to the player base.
Will my Prime account status carry over to CS2?
Yes. According to the official CS2 announcement page, CS2 will be a free upgrade and Prime accounts will carry over to the next iteration.
I’ve gotten the invite! How do I play CS2 now?
If you have been invited to join the Limited Test for CS2, you can accept the invitation by clicking on the ENROLL button. Once you have done that, a checkmark appears next to it, and the text for the button changes to Exit and Download. If you click on that, the game will shut down and the CS2 files will begin downloading.
Once the files have been downloaded, you can click on the play button, after which you will be prompted to choose which version you’d like to play. Select the Limited Test option, and you are good to go.
If I install the CS2 Limited Test Beta, will I lose access to the current version?
No. The game will ask each time you press play to choose which version of the game you want to run. This can be disabled from the game properties, and you can also choose what version you exclusively want to run each time you press play.
What happens to all my skins? Will I lose them?
No, all skins are automatically carried to CS2, so you can continue playing with all your skins.
Concluding Remarks
CS2 is the next iteration of a game that has dominated the online scene for more than a decade now, promising to bring about revolutionary changes in the form of improved graphics, inventory system, map design, and more. It is a privilege to get an invitation to CS2 and experience the future of the game firsthand. However, if you haven’t been invited so far, there is no need to be disappointed, since Valve has stated that they will continually add more players with time. So if you know you fulfill their selection criteria, keep playing the game, keep it fair, and hope for the best.
