PSN Version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Wasn’t The Original Plan
Upon Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s announcement, developer Valve confirmed the shooter would be heading to both Microsoft and Sony’s respective consoles. However, the original plan wasn’t to have a PSN release for the title; instead, it was intended for an XBLA launch.
Speaking to MediaKick, one of Valve’s lead writers Chet Faliszek said the company initially looked to release the game on Microsoft’s platform:
We originally looked to release this on XBLA as a downloadable title as an update to Counter-Strike: Source, but then we started thinking about it a little more about expanding what it has to offer. We had started working with Sony a little more on Portal 2, so it seemed pretty natural to bring this to the PlayStation Network. We also wanted to address some of more unusual problems, good problems actually. Many people play Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source are pretty set in their ways, and feel that their respective Counter-Strike was the definitive version. What we want to do is bring out a new product where everything each of the communities loved about their game is there and put it into one game.
Faliszek also responded with the following when asked if upon creating original Counter-Strike, did they want it to have an eventual console release:
There was a version of the original Counter-Strike ported on Xbox, but creating the game for consoles as well as PC makes so much sense because we had learned so much with Left 4 Dead series and so we are able to bring what we had learned those lessons into making Counter-Strike: Global Offensive the best game we could make for home consoles.
In another interview about the shooter with GL, Chet replied when asked why now is the best time for Counter-Strike to make a long-awaited comeback:
If you look at the PC, a version of Counter-Strike is still the number one played strategic fighter, and there’s a reason for that. It’s about the competition and it’s about the skill. So when you’re playing it’s you against the other person and it’s not based on them getting three more kills previously so they have something they’re going to blow you up with, or they play a thousand more hours than you so they have a different weapon load-out. It’s about during that match, how you play is how you’re going to win or lose. That’s not to knock those other games, those are really fun; I played Modern Warfare 2 which hit a sweet spot with me and I put in an embarrassing number of hours with it, and I’m really looking forward to Battlefield 3. But those are a different kind of game and we think the long lasting appeal of Counter-Strike is its sport-like competition where the rules aren’t changed out from underneath you and that work you put in to get better at it pays off.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is due for a release sometime in 2012.
