After new CS2 gloves, Valve’s next target is already clear

Valve recently released an update that added new CS2 Gloves to the game for the first time in six years. They were a surprising addition, to say the least, as many assumed that Valve was just kind of done with Gloves. Radio silence is the developer’s favorite trick – it is notorious for keeping players out of the loop on all things Counter-Strike, before emerging from the darkness with brand-new content.

By adding new CS2 Gloves, Valve has set an interesting precedent. When it comes to old content, the developer usually keeps things dormant, leaving players to speculate endlessly about whether they’ll ever return. Operations are perhaps the best example (spoiler: they’re never coming back). But releasing the Dead Hand Collection Gloves shows that Valve in fact has no issue with revisiting older content and releasing new options for players to use.

New CS2 Agents feel like Valve’s next big target

To me, this presents a major opportunity for Valve: Agents. It has been four and a half years since the developer released any new Counter-Strike Agents, with the Operation Riptide collection launching back in September 2021.

Agents have been sort of forgotten in Counter-Strike, but they’re still a key part of the casual experience. Not everyone wants a Fortnite-esque character skin, but there’s definitely an opportunity on the table for Valve to revisit Agents in the wake of the new CS2 Gloves. And remember, CS:GO’s map-based factions don’t seem to be making a return. Those skins are still removed from the game, but Valve could always choose to bring them back in the form of Agents. It’s an interesting idea, even if there’s no indication that Valve is considering this. But they very rarely give anything away.

There has been plenty of demand, too. Reddit, loud as always, has no shortage of threads over the years calling for some new CS2 Agents. The community demand is there. At high levels, Agents aren’t commonly used as they give away free information to opponents, but this just doesn’t really matter to casual players, who make up the vast majority of the player base. Agents feel like a sensible next target for Valve, if it wants to revisit old content, as the recent Gloves drop suggests.

Why haven’t there been any new CS2 Agents?

Since CS2’s launch, it feels as though Valve has had bigger priorities than Agents. Overall, it seems that the developer has been struggling to find ways to move away from Cases, and has now settled on the Armory and Sealed Terminals as a solution. The general state of the game has required a fair amount of attention, and after two and a half years, it finally feels as though CS2 is in a good state. Basically, Valve has just been really busy. Higher priority stuff.

Another factor is that, previously, all Agents were distributed via Operations. No new Operations, no new Agents. Simple. If it doesn’t plan to revisit Operations in the future, then it’s possible that it has been stuck on how to actually add new CS2 Agents to the game. This is speculation, of course, but it would be interesting to see how Valve handles the issue. Armory Agents don’t feel out of the question.

There is always the possibility that Valve is simply done with Agents. It won’t tell us either way, but for now, the new CS2 Gloves offer some hope (or maybe just cope) for players.