According to the well-known gaming portal Dust2.us, the organizers of ESL Pro League Season 18 are in discussions about a possible switch from CS:GO to its replacement, Counter-Strike 2.

Despite the nearing end of CS:GO's lifecycle, ESL Pro League Season 18 is in full swing, with events scheduled through Sunday.

By the phrase nearing the end of CS:GO, we mean the constant audience bytes by developers on Twitter. Read more about it here.

According to Dust2.us, ESL has asked the teams competing in Pro League Season 18 if they can switch to Counter-Strike 2 as early as the semifinals or grand finals of the tournament.

A statement from ESL said:

We typically poll teams and players to get their opinions. Right now we are actually in talks with EPL playoff teams to understand their preferences in case Valve releases CS2 tomorrow. As soon as any final decisions are made, we will let you know as soon as possible

This potential transition raises some important questions and concerns. These include consistency with previously played matches, the readiness of the new game, and the ability of the organizers to ensure a smooth transition without significant technical delays. In addition, there are concerns about Counter-Strike 2 not being a complete game yet and new bugs and exploits popping up daily.

While some teams have already started practicing on the new version of the game, others continue to give their full attention to CS:GO. With many teams in different stages of preparation, it is still hard to predict whether the transition to the new version of the game will happen during the current playoffs.

As a reminder, the playoff grid as of this writing looks like this:

EPL S18 takes place from August 30 to October 1 in Malta. Teams play for a prize pool of $850k. The champion will also get slots to BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 and IEM Katowice 2024. You can follow the schedule and results of the tournament at the link.

Source — Dust2.us