How Anubis made it into CSGO\u2019s Active Duty map pool ValveDexerto picked the brains of Anubis\u2019 creators to find out more about the development of the CS:GO map, which has been added to Valve\u2019s Active Duty pool. Roald could hardly believe what he was reading. As he opened his email inbox on September 10, he found a message from Valve, who wished to purchase the rights to Anubis, the CS:GO map that he had co-created in 2020. He instantly reached out to the other two creators, Jakuza and jd40, asking if they had received the same email with Valve\u2019s offer to take over the map and put it on the Active Duty pool. \u201cIt was unreal,\u201d Roald tells Dexerto. \u201cI thought it was maybe some kind of scam.\u201d After reaching an agreement with Valve, the trio kept the news to themselves, perhaps afraid that they might jinx it. What followed was a long and agonizing wait for the big reveal to happen. It was only on November 18 that Valve finally announced that Anubis would be added to the Active Duty map pool \u2014 the official set of maps selected by the developer for esports competitions \u2014 as a replacement for Dust2, the most iconic map in FPS history. It is only the second community-made map that has made it into the Active Duty map pool after Cache, created by Salvatore \u2018Volcano\u2019 Garozzo (now a lead game designer for Valorant at Riot Games), Shawn \u2018FMPONE\u2019 Snelling and Lenz \u2018penE\u2019 Monath. Roald went through a range of emotions when the update hit the game. There was joy, of course, but at the same time a creeping sense of dread. \u201cPro teams will play it and you don\u2019t know how it will be received,\u201d he explained. \u201cAs a level designer, I still feel responsible for the map and that people enjoy it and like it. You still have this worry. Like, \u2018I hope it will be good\u2019. \u201cBut it\u2019s mostly a positive feeling. I\u2019m really excited that pros are going to play the map and excited to see what they can do with it, what strategies they come up with.\u201d How Anubis came together The development of Anubis began in June 2019, shortly after Mapcore and FACEIT announced an exotic mapping contest for CS:GO with $15,000 on offer. Roald had prior experience with the theme after working on the map Desertruin for \u2018Pirates, Vikings & Knights II\u2019, a multiplayer team-based first-person action video game. \u201cYou have so much freedom because structures can be broken,\u201d he says of the exotic motif. \u201cYou don\u2019t really need that much logic.\u201d He started doing research on Ancient Egypt, using Ubisoft\u2019s 2017 hit game, \u2018Assassin\u2019s Creed Origins\u2019, as the key concept for the map. He originally thought about doing it all by himself, but very early on in development, he was joined by Jakuza, who began creating assets for the map, like models and textures. A short time later, the team grew again as they brought in jd40, who had won the 2017 mapping contest with Biome. That map made it into CS:GO in October 2018. \u201cIt was a huge relief that everyone had something to work on at all times,\u201d Jakuza says. \u201cWe knew the ball was always heading in the right direction.\u201d This was not the first rodeo for any of the three creators, but it was still a demanding undertaking, especially because they could only work on the map in their free time. Back then, Roald was working as a cook. Jakuza, he explains, was \u201cdoing something completely different\u201d. And jd40 is a software engineer. The development journey can be followed on Mapcore\u2019s forum, where Roald posted regular updates about the project, including early layouts and textureless screenshots, and asked fellow map creators for input. On January 30, 2020, Anubis was officially released and added to CS:GO\u2019s workshop for players to download. In March, it was announced as the winner of the Exotic Places Mapping Contest, netting the trio of creators a cheque for $7,500. \u201cI didn\u2019t know we had a gem on our hands,\u201d Jakuza says. Before the end of the month, Anubis was officially introduced to the game, though only in Scrimmage mode (unranked matchmaking games). That changed less than two weeks later, when it was moved from Scrimmage to Competitive after only ten days in the game. It ended up staying there for over a year. \u201cI would not say I had [big] expectations because for me it was the first map that was added to the game,\u201d Roald says. \u201cBut I did know that we had done something very solid.\u201d Work on Anubis never stopped. As more players got their hands on the map, bug reports kept coming in. At the same time, the creators started revisiting the layout based on feedback. One of the biggest changes was made to the entrance of the B site. \u201cIt was more like a 90-degree angle into the site and you had to check so many corners,\u201d he says. \u201cI did not like the flow. I thought, \u2018I want to use this chance to make bigger changes and see how they will play out and what effect they will have on a larger scale, with more people playing. \u201cSo we changed the entrance of the B site and jd40 had to redo the whole art there.\u201d Instantly, the other two creators burst into laughter. \u201cI\u2019m sorry for that,\u201d Roald adds. \u201cI know there is still trauma.\u201d As excited as they were that Anubis was being played by thousands across the globe on a daily basis, the developers still wanted to know what the pros had to say about the map. Roald reached out to a number of community figures but only heard back from NIP\u2019s Fredrik \u2018REZ\u2019 Sterner and [then-head coach] Bj\u00f6rn \u2018THREAT\u2019 Pers. \u201cThey didn\u2019t play it on matchmaking, but they played it for fun, 3v3,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey both said that A [site] was too hard for Ts and gave other suggestions. I made some changes based on their input.\u201d Coincidentally, NIP took part in what is considered to be the first match between two professional teams on Anubis, in January 2021. The Swedish team hammered BIG 16-4 as part of a best-of-five showmatch organized by Betway. \u201cI think someone on Discord messaged me saying, \u2018They\u2019re playing your map!\u2019\u201d Roald recalls. \u201cI missed the start of the match but it was really cool. \u201cThe coaches were casting the match together with Mauisnake. I know that BIG was losing hard and the coach was really complaining about the map. And I was like, \u2018Oh, f**k. They hate it. It\u2019s so bad\u2019. It was really cool but for me, it induced a bit of anxiety.\u201d Revamping the map pool In 2020, there were already rumors that Anubis could be added to the Active Duty map pool one day. That speculation only intensified as the map remained in Competitive mode for months on end, only being removed from the game in May 2021. That was the end of it, the trio of creators thought. But the rumor mill started whirring again in August 2022, when Anubis was re-added to CS:GO (together with Breach and Tuscan) as part of the update that came out ahead of the game\u2019s tenth anniversary. \u201cThe map survived multiple rotations of community maps,\u201d Roald says. \u201cAnd you think, \u2018So what\u2019s the deal?\u2019 You get some hope. But then after 13 months, they removed the map and you\u2019re like, \u2018Aww, all hope for nothing. It was just another rotation\u2019. \u201cAnd then it\u2019s back in. I thought it would stay in the rotation for a few months and then get removed again. At this time, I think there were rumors that one of the three maps would make it [into the Active Duty pool]. \u201cAnd then we got the email from Valve.\u201d Jakuza recalls an enigmatic October 5 tweet by the popular caster and Mapcore contest judge James Bardolph, who called on Valve to consider Anubis for the Active Duty map pool. By then, he and the other two creators were already in talks with Valve about selling Anubis. \u201cHe must have had a premonition,\u201d Jakuza says, laughing. \u201cOr he has an inside source.\u201d Bardolph explains that his tweet stemmed from a discussion on Reddit about how unlikely it seemed that a community-made map would be part of the Active Duty map pool again. \u201cI know Valve\u2019s devs observe what we say, so I wanted to push the conversation on a map like Anubis,\u201d he tells Dexerto. \u201cIn terms of something that\u2019s accessible to the casual player, it was one of the best options we had to go into the map pool. \u201cI like to spam them with my opinions on what I would like to see!\u201d The addition of Anubis to the Active Duty pool has reignited the discussion about the staleness of some CS:GO maps that are used in competitions. Dust2 had long run its course when it was removed, but the same can be said, for example, of Mirage, which has featured in all CS:GO Majors. Will Valve\u2019s acquisition of Anubis signal the start of a new era for competitive CS:GO, with more community-made maps being featured in competitions? For Anubis\u2019 creators, that is an unlikely prospect. \u201cI\u2019d love it if Valve became more open with this stuff and even did a mapping contest,\u201d jd40 says. \u201cThese days, there aren\u2019t many reasons to create maps. Maybe you can do a Wingman [2v2 game mode] map, which pays the same as a Defuse map. There is not much reason to do a 5v5 map. I think Anubis is going to be the exception.\u201d Jakuza adds: \u201cI hope not, but I have a gut feeling that it will stay the same\u201d. If that is indeed the case, then Roald, Jakuza and jd40 can consider themselves lucky. The trio cannot reveal how much they made from Anubis\u2019 sale, but they all stress that it was not life-changing money. \u201cI can buy a lot more stupid things,\u201d jd40 says. Jakuza, who starts chuckling, adds: \u201cSame deal over here. It\u2019s just a really nice bonus, basically.\u201d \u201cFor me, it\u2019s kind of a safety net,\u201d Roald says. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to have it in the bank account. I\u2019m not as tempted to buy stupid sh*t so I\u2019ll keep it there. If I lose my job I\u2019ll still be able to provide, and if I want to buy a house in the future it\u2019s for the down payment. But it\u2019s not life-changing, let\u2019s put it that way.\u201d Saying goodbye to Anubis After a three-year journey on Anubis, there was not so much as a hint of sadness from the trio of creators about letting go of the map and relinquishing control to Valve. \u201cIt was kind of a relief,\u201d Jakuza says, laughing. \u201cIt\u2019s just great to know that you\u2019re putting it in the right hands and that they\u2019re going to take care of it for you.\u201d Roald adds that he is at the same time scared and excited to see where Valve will take the map in the future. \u201cAs a level designer, you have thought about all the little pieces and think, \u2018Oh sh*t. I hope that the big picture will remain as it is\u2019. But on the other hand, I\u2019m really tired of the map. At some point, you\u2019re just done. It\u2019s good that there are some fresh eyes and fresh hands working on it. \u201cI have a lot of trust that they will do the right thing, that they will deal with feedback and statistics and push the map in a better direction. They are able to make bigger changes that can improve the map. I was a little bit stuck. I have this feeling that there are things to improve but I didn\u2019t know what to do. I tried some stuff in the editor but it just wasn\u2019t coming. I think I did all I could do.\u201d Community reaction to Anubis has been mixed, even among pro players, some of whom criticized the map even before even giving it a try. Traditionally, players are resistant to change, and their feelings about Anubis might be influenced by how strong a pick Dust2 was for their teams. Heroic coach Richard \u2018Xizt\u2019 Landstr\u00f6m, for example, said that Anubis\u2019 addition was \u201cgood\u201d for his team, which had Dust2 as a permanent ban. At the same time, the map seems to have grown on some pro players in recent weeks. \u201cIt\u2019s Dust2 and people complain,\u201d Roald says. \u201cBut if it were Inferno or Mirage, the people who love those maps would complain while the others would be silent. I think there\u2019s always something to complain about. I think Valve doesn\u2019t care too much about that. They have a vision of what they want. People just have to accept it and deal with it. \u201cSome people really want new maps, while others are fine with what they have, especially if their map might be getting thrown out. For me, change is good because it will bring something new to watch and new challenges for players.\u201d The BLAST Premier World Final will be the first opportunity to see Anubis in a tier-one LAN setting. The tournament will feature eight of the best teams in the world, who will be duking it out for a $1 million prize pool. It will be interesting to see which teams will embrace Anubis right off the bat, as well as whether it will be the most T-sided map in the pool \u2014 a trend that has developed in matchmaking games. Asked which teams they think will be dominant on Anubis, the creators don\u2019t really know how to answer. It turns out that they aren\u2019t really big esports fans. (For example, IEM Rio was the first CS:GO Major that Roald watched.) But they all said that they are likely to tune in to a stream and watch a game if they see that Anubis is being played, especially if it\u2019s a big match, like the grand final of a Major. \u201cI will watch it with interest and just be proud,\u201d says Roald, who is now working as a junior level designer for a video game developer. \u201cIf it\u2019s a grand final, I think it will be a great moment and something we can be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How Anubis made it into CSGO\u2019s Active Duty map pool ValveDexerto picked the brains of Anubis\u2019 creators to find out more about the development of the CS:GO map, which has been added to Valve\u2019s Active Duty pool. Roald could hardly believe what he was reading. As he opened his email inbox on September 10, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38421\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}