A new wave of controversy has erupted in the Counter-Strike 2 community — this time due to a visual bug that significantly affects the game’s competitive balance. Following the latest update, players are widely reporting that it’s possible to see enemies through smoke grenades when a Molotov is active inside or during gunfire. This not only compromises match integrity but also raises serious concerns about Valve’s testing of visual effects in the Source 2 engine.
The Issue: Smokes Have Become “Transparent”
At the heart of the bug lies a major visual flaw — when fire or muzzle flashes are layered over a smoke screen, the smoke texture becomes noticeably translucent. Specifically:
- A Molotov burning inside a smoke creates a “backlight” effect;
- Shooting through a smoke reveals the outlines of an enemy, as if standing in partial light;
- It’s not full transparency, but it’s enough to give a clear visual and react faster.
This issue already existed in CS:GO, but in CS2 it has become far more visible due to the more realistic shaders and updated rendering system.
Technical Perspective: Why Is This Happening?
The root cause likely lies in how Source 2 handles visual rendering:
- New volumetric smoke rendering: Valve introduced a physically-based smoke simulation, which unfortunately creates unintended effects when combined with dynamic lighting.
- Fire and muzzle flash effects are not rendered on top of smoke, but instead influence the shader’s transparency from within.
- Alpha channel rendering problems (handling of semi-transparent textures) may reduce the perceived thickness of the smoke depending on angle or light source intensity.
In short, the smoke is still “there” physically — but visually it breaks down, giving players a hard-to-track advantage in live matches.
READ MORE:Valve Updates CS2: Weekly Missions, New Maps, and Major Mode-Wide Rotation
Gameplay Impact: Balance Disrupted
This bug undermines the fundamental role of smokes as tools for space control:
- Teams can no longer rely on smokes to provide a “safe zone”;
- Players are beginning to use fire in smokes as a tactical “wallhack”;
- Competitive matches, especially at tournaments, risk being distorted by unfair advantages.
For professional teams, this opens up new — but entirely unacceptable — strategic exploits. Abusing this glitch is essentially an exploitation of game mechanics, going against the principles of fair play.
Community Reaction
Clips and complaints have quickly flooded Reddit, Twitter, and Discord:
“This ruins the entire purpose of smokes. Valve, are you serious?”
— Reddit /r/GlobalOffensive
“At first I thought I was imagining things. Then I got killed through the smoke with a Molotov three times in a row.”
— Steam user
“Looks like a feature, but it’s really just a broken mechanic.”
— YouTube commentator
Valve has yet to officially comment on the issue, but a fix or at least a temporary block on fire-in-smoke interactions is expected soon.
READ MORE:Classic Offensive Cancelled Due to Valve’s Restrictions
What Can Players and Developers Do?
For players:
- Avoid abusing this bug — it’s a violation of fair-play ethics;
- Record and report incidents where you encounter clear abuse;
- Submit bug reports through official Valve channels, such as CS2 GitHub Issues.
For Valve:
- An urgent response is needed;
- Consider temporarily disabling overlapping smoke and fire effects;
- A public statement or discussion is expected on forums or social platforms.
Once again, Valve faces the consequences of an ambitious but complex visual overhaul in CS2. The issue of “see-through smokes” is a serious threat to competitive integrity and should be a top priority for the dev team in the coming days. Until then, players are left hoping for a quick fix — and that this exploit doesn’t become a widespread tool for abuse on the professional scene.
