CS:GO's first map pool: how the 16 planned launch maps took shape in 2011-2012

The first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map pool was assembled in public between August 2011 and April 2012. It started with five classic maps in an August 2011 report and a map list from the closed beta files, reported on Dec. 1, 2011. By Valve’s beta update of April 13, 2012, all 16 maps on that list had been added to the game.

According to this site’s fan posts at the time, Valve had announced a launch pool of 16 maps: eight remakes of classics and eight new ones. Valve’s beta patch notes show the order in which they arrived.

August 2011: five classic maps

On Aug. 15, 2011, PC Gamer reported that Valve had confirmed CS:GO a few days earlier. It summarized an account by Craig Levine, a co-founder of ESEA, who was one of the community members Valve flew out to see the game.

Levine listed the maps in the build as dust, dust2, inferno, nuke and de_train. He said Dust had been “overhauled to be competitively played.” PC Gamer’s summary also listed traditional de_ and cs_ map types and “No new game modes.” That last point did not hold. By early 2012, the game had the Arsenal modes, described below.

Levine also said the game was in a pre-beta state and that Valve was taking plenty of feedback from the testers. A closed beta was planned for the autumn, with release due in 2012.

Dec. 1, 2011: a file names all 16 maps

On Dec. 1, 2011, this site’s own fan post reported that users on the Steam forums had found a maplist.txt file in the closed beta. The file listed 16 maps plus a training map:

• cs_italy, cs_office
• de_aztec, de_dust, de_dust2, de_inferno, de_nuke, de_train
• de_shorttrain, de_bank, de_lake, de_safehouse, de_sugarcane, de_stmarc
• ar_baggage, ar_shoots
• training1

Four of the maps had not been officially announced: de_shorttrain, de_bank, de_lake and de_safehouse. The fan post said Valve had already announced a launch lineup of 16 maps, eight remakes and eight new ones, so the file filled in the missing names.

The post tied de_shorttrain to something said in August. It reported that professional Counter-Strike: Source players invited to Valve had mentioned a CS:GO version of de_train with a single bomb site, and the post called the match “obvious.”

A second batch of leaked particle-file errors showed other names, such as de_mill, de_house and de_shacks. The post read these as earlier working titles. It guessed de_mill was Sugarcane, de_house was Safehouse and de_shacks was St. Marc. A later update to the post added de_burger, de_embassy and gg_tibet, found in the game’s gcf files, and said it was unclear whether they were old names, scrapped ideas or new maps.

Several commenters said they were disappointed that cs_assault was missing, and one also asked about cs_militia and cs_havana.

January 2012: eight remakes, four confirmed new maps

By Jan. 28, 2012, this site’s maps page said Valve had confirmed 16 launch maps and that 12 were publicly confirmed. Eight of the 16 were remakes of classics. The other eight were new and built for the Arsenal modes, which the page described as inspired by Gun Game from Counter-Strike: Source.

The page described the classics as follows, as fan-site descriptions at that point:

• Azteca major visual upgrade and some minor layout differences.
• Dusta staircase from underpass to side, plus changes to the Terrorist spawn and bombsite A. The page said the aim was to make the underpass a more viable route for attacking Terrorists.
• Dust IIlargely unchanged beyond a graphics makeover.
• Nukesome minor layout changes.
• Inferno and Trainconfirmed to return, with no details on changes for Inferno.
• Italyback with its marketplace chicken, which the page said had been absent from the Source version.
• Officeback and keeping its winter, snow setting.

Sugarcane, Shoots, St. Marc and Baggage were the four confirmed new maps. The page placed Sugarcane in a South American sugar mill and said its warehouse setting recalled cs_assault. St. Marc was in the Haitian port town of Saint-Marc, and Baggage was set in an airport baggage claim area.

February and March 2012: classics arrive in the beta

Valve’s own beta notes show the next steps. The Feb. 14 update changed the default quickmatch to competitive de_dust2 and added de_inferno, de_train and de_nuke to local match options. It also reduced dust particle effects on Dust and Dust II, with the initial dust fading after about 20 seconds. On Dust it fixed a bug that let players plant the bomb below the ledge on bombsite B.

On March 9, Valve enabled Arsenal: Demolition and set quickmatch to Demolition on de_lake. The notes described the mode as “Gungame-objective.” St. Marc joined Demolition on March 16, when Valve also added cs_Italy and set quick match to it. Those notes also added a map called de_dust2_se and pointed to a blog post for details, which they did not summarize.

The March 23 update added Office. It also changed quick match to a Classic map cycle of Train, Nuke, Inferno, Dust, Dust II, Italy and Office. At the end of each match, players moved to a new map from the group. Valve’s notes for that update included Inferno fountain water and an updated radar. They also listed a satellite dish removed from the roof on Lake and a new helicopter path on Dust and Dust II.

March 29 and April 13: the rest of the pool

The March 29 release notes, which Valve posted on its Counter-Strike blog, added two Arms Race maps, Shoots and Baggage, and put Aztec into the Classic maps. They described Arsenal: Arms Race as a single extended round with instant respawn. Every player starts with the same weapon and gets a new one for each kill. The progression ends with the knife, and the first player to get a kill with every weapon wins.

The notes also added a Find A Game option to the Play menu. It offered Arms Race and Classic Competitive, with a map cycle group for each.

The April 13 update added the last four maps in Demolition: Sugarcane, Safehouse, Bank and Short Train. Quickmatch now connected to the Demolition map cycle group, and Find A Game offered three groups: All Classic Maps, Arms Race Maps and Demolition Maps.

The pool as of April 13, 2012

That makes eight Classic maps, six Demolition maps and two Arms Race maps. Each of the 16 maps from the December file had appeared in Valve’s beta notes by April 13, 2012. That update also added a server browser to the Play menu.