Summary

  • Valve abruptly shuts down 8-year Classic Offensive project despite prior approval.
  • A Cease and Desist was issued just before release due to 'derivative content'.
  • Team believes Valve's actions pose a threat to the future of modding within its ecosystem.

For the last eight years, one team of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans has been working on Counter-Strike Classic Offensive. This mod, which was greenlit initially by Valve, aimed to remake the original Counter-Strike game for a modern audience. Classic Offensive is described by its creators as an "homage to the original vision and mechanics of the game that started it all."

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In March, just as Classic Offensive was set to release, the team was contacted by Valve, who had "concerns that our mod may no longer be compliant with their guidelines," leading the team to audit and rework things to Valve's standards.

Unfortunately, a little under a month later, Classic Offensive is no more, with Valve putting its foot down with a Cease and Desist, distressing both the mod's developers and its audience who were eagerly anticipating the release.

Counter-Strike Classic Offensive Shut Down By Valve After Eight Years

In a justifiably emotional Twitter post, the Classic Offensive team said, "After eight years of development and despite being officially greenlit by Valve in 2017, we are devastated to announce the cancellation of Classic Offensive. This decision follows abrupt actions by Valve that prevent us from releasing or continuing development on the project."

After eight years of development, and despite being officially greenlit by Valve in 2017, we are devastated to announce the cancellation of Classic Offensive.

Having submitted the build for review in October, Classic Offensive was "unexpectedly rejected in January 2025 with a generic response stating it was 'not a good fit'." This rejection directly contradicted Valve's previous greenlighting of the project.

Classic Offensive's developers state they were hit with a Cease and Desist just hours before the project was due to launch via ModDB. Valve stated it contained "derivative content" based on its own intellectual property.

After outlining the situation, the Classic Offensive team shared its thoughts on things.

"This position stands in stark contrast to Valve's own greenlight approval of Classic Offensive, their historical tolerance (and benefit from) extensive modding communities, and the previous three decades of modding tradition that shaped many of their successful games", they said. "Many careers, features, and game modes originated from Counter-Strike's community mods, yet modding keeps becoming incredibly restricted.

"The situation has implications far beyond our project, raising serious concerns for the future of modding within Valve's ecosystem. Modders should reconsider how they see Valve, a company that benefits from community creativity while being able to shut down years of work without warning, despite going through their defined process, which they can change drastically at any time."

Modders should reconsider how they see Valve, a company that benefits from community creativity while being able to shut down years of work without warning.

In light of the situation, the Classic Offensive team created a website with a full timeline of the mod's development and troubles with Valve. The website also details that, during its eight years in development, over 100 developers worked on the project in some capacity, with mapping, modeling, modding, and beta testing roles all part of the cycle.

Naturally, the sudden cancellation has disappointed those awaiting the game and those in the wider gaming scene. Following the news, multiple tweets were directed at Valve, berating the company for "how out of touch they've gotten," asking them to "reconsider or at least give an apology to the developers."

It sets a dangerous precedent that, even after eight years, one's work can be obliterated without prior warning.

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Counter-Strike

First-Person Shooter Tactical Systems 10.0/10 Released November 9, 2000 ESRB Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence Developer(s) Valve Publisher(s) Sierra Studios, Microsoft Game Studios Engine GoldSrc Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Franchise Counter-Strike
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