Classic Offensive project shut down as Valve issue cease and desist

The Classic Offensive project, which saw community developers remaster classic elements of Counter-Strike, has been cancelled following a Cease and Desist backflip from Valve, who originally greenlit the project eight years ago.

The decision and subsequent icing of the project has sent the community into a frenzy, with the hashtag #AllowClassicOffensive trending as fans shower the community devs with support and demand an explanation from Valve.

The Classic Offensive team issued a lengthy statement via X/Twitter on May 7 announcing the sudden shut down of the project nearly a decade in the making. "We are devastated to announce the cancellation of Classic Offensive," it read, detailing the decision came as a result of "abrupt actions" from Valve preventing the game's release.

The project was Greenlit by Valve on Steam way back in 2017 after the mod quickly rose in popularity. Classic Offensive devs were granted Steamworks access which assisted development, and despite the odd CS:GO update breaking the game, work continued in the hopes the game could be launched on Steam.

This work was mostly completed by October 2024 when it was submitted for review by Steam, but according to Classic Offensive devs, the submission was rejected three months later "with a generic response stating it was 'not a good fit'."

With the supposed Greenlit status up in the air, developers proceeded to update via third-party community ModDB when Valve flipped, issuing a Cease and Desist direct from Valve socials hours before launch. "In follow-up communications, [Valve] clarified that releasing Classic Offensive would be distributing 'derivative content' based on their intellectual property," the Classic Offensive team said.

As a result, Classic Offensive is now on hold, and it's future — and the future of all community-driven Source mods, according to the team — is in "jeopardy."

"This situation has implications far beyond our project, raising serious concerns for the future of modding within Valve's ecosystem. Modders should reconsider how they see Valve: A company that benefits from community creativity while being able to shut down years of work without warning, despite going through their defined process which they can drastically change at any time."

Many community members rallied in support of Classic Offensive, with the tag #AllowClassicOffensive trending across social media.

Big names spoke out to back the Classic Offensive team. Minh "Gooseman" Le, an original co-creator of Counter-Strike — itself a Half-Life mod — was disappointed the team's hard work was being locked away. "I can't imagine having years of your work not seeing the light of day," he said. "I hope to see their talents in other projects as I was really impressed with what they accomplished."

Several pro players and content creators who tested and showed off Classic Offensive were equally upset. "Valve has every right to protect their IP, but they can also decide to embrace fan projects like they have in the past," creator WarOwl said.

The Classic Offensive team shared a full timeline of the project — and communication with Valve — on their website.

Esports.gg reached out to Valve but received no response at the time this article was published — we'll update here if a comment is received.

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