Recently, Valve Software unveiled a significant update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, branding it as Counter-Strike 2. This is a unique event in the Source games, as it marks the first time (excluding Dota 2) that a game has been fully transitioned from Source to Source 2.
This transition sheds light on some misconceptions surrounding how game engines work and how games are ported to new versions of these engines. It is common in the community to hear the belief that no one is interested in modifying Source because its code is considered outdated. However, those who support this view often overlook the fact that there are currently very few games on the market that use the original engine. Most new engines are essentially rewritten versions of older ones.
Source 2 is no exception to this rewriting trend. It is a new version of Source that is based on the code of the old engine, which, interestingly, was once based on GoldSrc. Observing this event can serve as a lesson for Garry’s Mod.
It is important to note that the port of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the new engine occurred not primarily because the developers have a deep love for their game. It happened due to commercial conditions that constrained the possibility of releasing a new game in the series. Financial gain is a priority when deciding whether to port a game to a new engine or create a new game on a new engine. A similar issue has arisen with Garry’s Mod 2, which is now called S&Box.
After the release of Counter-Strike 2, we should recognize why Garry’s Mod was not updated to Source 2, and instead, we are receiving a completely different game on the same engine. This is due to the absence of in-game transactions or any additional financial incentives for the developers. While the old code presents challenges for updates, it is not a fundamental barrier that should doom the game.
The future of updates for Garry’s Mod remains uncertain due to the priorities of the Facepunch developers. We can only hope that Garry Newman’s words in an interview with PC Gamer—that the game will be updated as long as people continue to play it—were not a lie.
