Can You Play Counter Strike 2 Left-Handed?

Thanks to modern-day accessibility efforts, some new games are being released with specific control modes for left-handed gamers. As it is set to become one of the biggest FPS games in the world, you might assume that Valve would have launched Counter-Strike 2 with such an option. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Here’s all we know about how to play Counter Strike 2 left-handed.

Does Counter Strike 2 Have Left-Handed Mode?

At launch, Counter Strike 2 does not have a left-handed mode. All players are currently forced to use the default right-handed models, which is proving unpopular with those who have previously relied on being able to switch to left-handed models in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Valve has released no official explanation as to why the ability to switch to left-handed models has been removed in Counter-Strike 2. Some players have speculated that it’s because of the game’s new method of rendering shadows, while others believe it is part of Valve’s efforts to even the playing field.

In CS: GO many players would rotate between left and right-handed model swapping to get an unobscured view of both bottom corners of the screen. Still, it seems unfair to punish left-handed players because of this.

For now, the only option left-handed players have to improve their experience playing is to change their keybinds to mirror the common WASD controls to the other side of the keyboard. Unfortunately, this offers only a partial fix for those players who are left-eye dominant.

Will Valve Add Left-Handed Mode to CS2?

Currently, Valve has not commented on whether they will add a left-handed mode to Counter-Strike 2. Here are two potential ways that it could be implemented as Valve continues to improve Counter-Strike 2 in the future.

In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, players could use the console commands ‘cl_righthand 0‘ and ‘cl_righthand 1‘ to switch between which side of the screen the player model and gun were displayed. You could also use the ‘bind [key] “toggle cl_righthand 0 1”‘ command to enable switching between the two either with a keybind or with the mouse wheel.

Alternatively, Valve could implement a toggle in the game’s options menu to allow for left-handed gameplay. This is how left-handed mode has been added to Valorant, which features very similar gameplay to Counter-Strike.

So that’s the unfortunate answer to the question ‘can you play Counter Strike 2 left-handed‘. There are a lot of cries for this to be added to Valve’s latest competitive shooter, so let’s hope it happens sooner rather than later. Until then, be sure to check out more of our CS2 guides and coverage below.

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