CSGO (Legacy - 2023)

CSGO:Legacy, or CSGO (2023) is the latest version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that was officially released by VALVe in 2023 before Counter-Strike 2 took over. CSGO:Legacy contains several gamemodes that weren't ported over CS2 yet, such as Danger Zone or the Holiday modes.

By default, CSGO:Legacy does not keep up with the player inventory, but there is a way to correct this, with still some unfixable caveats. Look at the bottom of the page for more info.

Requirements

• A Steam Account
• Counter-Strike 2 installed
• About 80GB available

Installation

Windows

1. Right click on Counter-Strike 2 on Steam, then select Properties (you can also click on the cog at the right of the screen when selecting Counter-Strike 2)

2. Go to the Betas tab, and select csgo_legacy - Legacy Version of CS:GO.

3. If not already having these options, enable the console on startup in the launch options of CS2.

-console -novid

The game will download the files that are required for CS:GO. Once downloaded, you can select it when starting Counter-Strike 2.

Linux / Steam Deck

Similarly to Windows, we will install the csgo_legacy branch for Counter-Strike 2. However, we will have to do some extra steps to allow our system to run CSGO.

1. Go to the properties of Counter-Strike 2.
2. Go to the Betas tab, and select csgo_legacy - Legacy Version of CS:GO.
3. If not already, you will have to switch to Desktop Mode.
4. Add csgo.sh within the CS:GO folder as a non-steam game:

~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive/csgo.sh

5. In the launch options, add the following:

-steam -novid -secure -novid

6. In the compatibility options, set it to Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout).

Enabling back your Inventory

Please open steam.inf within the CSGO folder:

Windows:

<YOUR STEAMAPPS FOLDER>\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\csgo\steam.inf

Steam Deck / Linux:

~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive/csgo/steam.inf

Find the ClientVersion token, and modify the value to 2000426.

When starting the game, you should be able to see a little more in the main menu, as well as accessing to your inventory, and the server browser.

FAQ

I wanted to join a snowballs-only server, but it kicks me out...

• You have to enable your inventory in order to join the server!

I enabled back my inventory, I wanted to switch my Deagle or M4 but it doesn't work on a local server...

• That is absolutely normal, the inventory switch only works when joining a community server! Sadly no solution has been found to prevent this...

On Linux I followed your instructions and the game didn't work!

• There are some Linux Distros (mostly Arch Linux-based systems) that seem to have issues with it. It has been confirmed to work with Pop!OS as well as Ubuntu 24.04.