Counter-Strike 2 is a game enjoyed by millions worldwide, but an open letter directed at Valve has shone a light on its patchy efforts at inclusivity.
The criticism comes from the Astralis Women's Counter-Strike roster, who have dropped the AWPs and are now taking aim at the lack of accessible female representation in their favorite game.
In an open letter posted to X, the team stated that they felt unwelcome in the game due to the difference in accessibility between using a male agent and a female agent, with the latter effectively pay-walled.
"Using a female agent skin costs extra, while default skins are all male... in some way it supports the sexism that we still encounter," wrote the team.
The letter was posted by Josefine Jensen, a member of the all-Danish roster.
“We are reaching out to follow up on the mail regarding the female agents in Counter-Strike, we sent to you on 24th of January 2024.
"As mentioned, we love your game, which today is an important part of our lives. We share the passion for Counter-Strike with millions of gamers worldwide and we love being a part of a truly global community. Unfortunately, we currently feel we are only guests at the party.”
The team suggests there should be “no difference between agents,” with as free skins depicting females as there are males.
“We believe more women would start playing the game if there were default free female agents, and at least those of us playing now would feel more welcome."
The letter is co-signed by all five playing members of the roster: Aurora "Aurora" Lyngdal, Josefine "Josefine" Jensen, Marie "Marie" Toft, Anja "Anja" Soelberg, and Isabella "Ismo" Ferslev.
Valve has yet to respond, and the request has been met with a decidedly - and perhaps predictably - mixed reception in the community.
"I mean, why not, but let's not pretend like adding default female agents is going to bring in players,” wrote Ozzny in one reply.
“Optimizing the game and fixing the cheating problem is how you bring in more players, I have never heard anyone say "I dont[sic] play CS because there's no default female agents[.]”
“I couldn’t care less about female default skins,” said content creator dona. “Valve should focus on improving the game, fix their subtick issue alongside making a proper anti cheat. THIS would attract more new players[.]”
Later, adding: “if I could ask Valve to fix ONE thing to make cs more attractive for girls, I would ask for some kind of live support like on faceit where toxic/sexist players can get punished. Toxicity/sexism is Nr. 1 reason for many girls to not play cs[.]”
However, support did come in from prominent members of the community, including esport commentator Anders Blume.
“I have no way to know if adding female agents that are free will attract more female players[...] But I'll say this, I used to think the whole ‘representation’ thing was pretty stupid, but for a variety of reasons I don't really feel that way any longer.
“I don't know where it falls on the scale in terms of urgency, but I can't really think of a downside to letting more people see themselves reflected in aspects of the game that are specifically cosmetic in nature.”
Presenter Frankie Ward also threw in her support behind an idea she admitted had previously been “skeptical” about.
“I honestly think having access to a variety of playable characters in videogames encourages a wider variety of people to play those games,” wrote Ward on X.
“I used to be sceptical and now I'm a believer so totally support this letter about.”
Free female skins are not the only inclusivity feature that fans of the shooter say is missing from the game. Missing since the release of the sequel last year is the option to use a left-hand model. Another feature that Valve has yet to comment on.