Smoke grenades in video games provide players with a tool for obscuring visibility, creating cover, and gaining a tactical advantage in multiplayer gameplay. They have become a common feature in first-person shooter games and are a staple of competitive play.

In-game smoke, be it from grenades or fire is something that has always irked gamers. Your grenade fazes through walls, creates the same plume of smoke as the last 20 you’ve thrown, and generally? They do look quite meh.

CS led the smoke grenade boom in 1999.

The earliest example of smoke in video games can be traced back to the 1985 game, Gauntlet. In this game, players could use a “smoke bomb” to temporarily blind enemies and avoid their attacks.

However, it wasn’t until the release of the popular first-person shooter, Counter-Strike, in 1999 that smoke nades became a defining feature of multiplayer gameplay. The game allowed players to use smokes to obscure their movements and provide cover for their teammates, making it an essential tool for competitive play.

Since then, smoke grenades have become a common feature in many first-person shooter games, including Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Rainbow Six Siege. They have also been included in other genres of games, such as stealth games like Metal Gear Solid.

No longer, however.

CS2 have proudly unveiled their new smoke mechanics, which truly interact with the environment, bullets, and players.

Watch: New Smoke grenades.

Next gen smoke do be smoking.

Seriously though – this is exciting stuff. #CS2 https://t.co/KbIb2LqyxF
— EliteGamerInsights (@EliteGInsights) March 24, 2023

Smoke grenades in gaming

See the tweet here.

You can see that even in the latest instalment of Warzone – 2.0, smoke mechanics are still rather outdated, as they are in almost all triple A games. Watch:

The news from CS2 raises the bar for other competitive FPS games, and even casual games, too.

See more news here.

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Watch: CS2 unveil new smoke grenades

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