Counter-Strike 2 saw the introduction of MR12, which shortens the length of a match to 24 rounds from 30. It’s arguably the most discussed change among the community, and now, the latest data has revealed its real impact.
CS stat site called Leetify shed light on the average match length in both CS2 and CS:GO. The thread, posted on Reddit on Sept. 21, showcased that CS2 Premier mode beta season games were 34 minutes on average, while CS:GO long matches usually take around 40 minutes.
“You can escape stomps quickly in CS2, but any match that is close will take nearly as long as a full CS:GO match,” Leetify added in the comments. Honestly speaking, the six-minute difference between CS2 Premier matches and long CS:GO matches isn’t as huge as originally expected.
When the MR12 change went live, many players were expecting to have much shorter CS2 matches. So far, a bunch of them have echoed this experience, but these were likely one-sided affairs in most cases.
From our personal experience, one-sided stomps in CS2 also feel much faster than CS:GO matches. But, given the game is still in its beta and the matchmaking isn’t yet as balanced, such games are likely more frequent than they should be.
Nevertheless, Leetify stats point out that the difference between competitive matches in both games is much smaller than anticipated. Leetify analyzed a million games from CS2‘s Premier mode, along with one million short and long CS:GO matches too.
Still, some players on Reddit have their doubts about the data, and would like to see some more insight. But, there are also those who like the results so far. “If [the data is] true, that actually sounds perfect,” one of them wrote.
The hype around CS2 isn’t slowing down any sooner, since the game is likely launching on Sept. 27 after Valve’s latest tease.
