Valve Cancels 8-Year-Old Classic Offensive Mode
The Classic Offensive mode, which Counter-Strike fans have been eagerly waiting for for years, has been canceled after eight years of development. The development team was forced to completely shelve the project after Valve blocked the mode from being added to Steam. Attempts to save the future of the mode were again unsuccessful due to Valve’s warning.
The End Has Come for Classic Offensive
Classic Offensive was a long-term project that started in 2016. The developers aimed to recreate the gameplay feel of Counter-Strike 1.6 with the Global Offensive engine. The project, which went through the Greenlight process in 2017 and was accepted to Steam, did not receive a response for months after submitting its final version at the end of 2024. In January 2025, the only message from Valve was “your application is not suitable for Steam.”
Despite this decision, the development team planned to release the mod outside of Steam. However, Valve expressed concerns that the mod no longer complied with the company’s guidelines. In response, the team began reconsidering the build, but this process also failed to reach a conclusion. Finally, a statement on social media announced that Classic Offensive was completely canceled.
It is not clear what technical or legal concerns Valve has regarding the mod. While claims circulating online suggest that the mod used leaked Source code, the developers have categorically denied this claim on their FAQ page. It has been emphasized that Classic Offensive never contained leaked code.
Valve has similarly intervened in fan projects based on games such as Team Fortress and Portal in recent years. Although the Source mod tools have been updated and paved the way for new games, this system has not created a suitable platform for projects like Classic Offensive. The complete cancellation of the mod after eight years of work has been a huge disappointment in the modding world.
