Hey folks, so you’re playing CS2 and wanna rewatch some of your matches. There’s a couple of ways to do this, each with its own steps. Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science, just follow along.
Using in-game Replay
First up, the easy way – using the in-game theater. It’s pretty straightforward. You start up CS2, and there’s this little TV icon in the top left corner of the main menu. Click that. This takes you to your matches – the Ranked Competitive ones you’ve played. You can watch them right there. Or, if you’re like me and like to rewatch games while munching on something, you can download them to watch later.
GOTV for Demo Replays
Now, the other way is a bit more involved but gives you more details. It uses GOTV. Head over to the Steam community website. Once you’re there, log into your account. Don’t forget the mobile authenticator thingy if you have it set up.
After you’re in, find where it says ‘Games’ in the dropdown menu under your username. Click it. Then, look for CS2 and find ‘My Game Stats’. From there, go to ‘Personal Game Data’. You’ll see tabs for different match types like Premier, Competitive, Wingman, etc. Pick the one you want.
Scroll through your games, find the one you’re looking for, and hit ‘Download Replay’. It’ll be under the match summary.
Okay, so you got your replay downloaded. Next, you need to unzip it. If you don’t have a file extraction tool, grab one online (there’s plenty of free ones). Rename the file if you want, so it’s easier to find later.
Now, move this file to where CS2 is installed on your PC. Typically, it’s in the Steam folder under Program Files. Open CS2 and bring up the developer console. Here’s where you type “playdemo” followed by your demo file’s name. Hit enter, and your replay should start.
- Log into your Steam account
- Head to the games area
- Find Counter-Strike 2, click on ‘my game stats’
- Choose ‘personal game data’ from the menu
- On the next page, click on ‘Premier Matches’
- Pick the match you’re interested in
- Hit ‘Download GOTV Replay’
- Move the downloaded file to your CS2 directory
In the replay, if you wanna skip around or change the speed, use Shift-F2. This brings up the Demo UI. It’s got buttons for play/pause, skipping rounds, and changing speeds. Super useful for analyzing plays or just skipping to the good parts.
