Counter-Strike: GO's new gun is causing some problems

Valve released an update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive yesterday that added a new "Killer Replay" kill cam, timeouts in competitive matchmaking and adorable holiday sweaters for the game's chickens. But the addition that's causing the most chatter in the Counter-Strike community is a new weapon, the powerful R8 Revolver that many players say is wildly unbalanced.

Players can purchase CS:GO's new R8 Revolver as a replacement for the Desert Eagle pistol. The R8's a little pricier — $850, compared to the $700 Desert Eagle — but it's incredibly deadly, with some players comparing it to the $4750 AWP sniper rifle in terms of stopping power.

Here's Valve's official description of the R8 Revolver:

The R8 Revolver delivers a highly accurate and powerful round at the expense of a lengthy trigger-pull. When emergency point-blank stopping power is required, fanning the hammer boosts rate-of-fire, but eliminates precision.

Players, on the other hand, have their own take on the R8.

"It has insane range, is perfectly accurate while moving, one-shots in the gut at ludicrous range, one-shots in the chest from medium range, and can be quickly emptied with the alt fire which is more effective at close range than any shotgun," reads a popular post on Reddit's r/games. The game's dedicated subreddit is dominated by chatter — mostly complaints and examples of its perceived excessive power — about CS:GO's new revolver.

Here's a well-circulated example of the R8 Revolver unleashing death upon its targets — in this case, a pair of back-to-back double headshots.

There are, of course, many other examples and calls for the R8 Revolver to be nerfed and/or banned in competitive games. Some professional CS:GO players are complaining about the new revolver, while others — specifically pro player Adam Friberg — suggest waiting a little longer to pass judgment on the R8.

And DW about the Revolver, they will see if it's OP or not and will nerf/buff it after it's been tried out. Don't judge to quickly.

— Adam Friberg (@fribergCS) December 9, 2015

For its part, esports gaming league ESL has decided not to play the latest version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at this weekend's ESL Proleague season 2 finals. James "Kennigit" Lampkin, ESL vice president pro gaming, said on Reddit that the league based its decision on player feedback.

"With the number of game play changes and weapon changes, we all felt that this is really important to maintain the competitive spirit of the event given the amount of money and prestige on the line," Lampkin said. "With having the patch land very close to the event (and players already being onsite), we don't think it would be reasonable to expect players to have enough preparation, so we are rolling back."