Valve today announced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, new chapter in the saga of the famous best-selling shooter, which will add new maps, characters, weapons, modes and expand the concept of teamwork that characterizes the franchise since its inception. In addition to news, the title will also include updated and remodeled versions of the content of the classic Counter-Strike.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be released on the marketplace as a Live Arcade in the early months of 2012 and will be developed by Valve in collaboration with Hidden Path Entertainment software company based in Seattle.

Some beta testers have been reported to the Steam forums and the website that the G4 graphics engine used is the updated version of the Source engine, that among the tested thus far, there are also maps Dust, Dust 2, Inferno and Nuke, there will be new weapons and objects to use as Molotov cocktails and grenades in the game-bait and were finally included for players casual and competitive mode to suit all tastes. Were also mentioned dedicated servers to improve the matchmaking, but probably this feature will be exclusive to the PC version.

We may know more about the game and the first demonstrations at PAX Prime and Eurogamer Expo 2011. Below is the first promotional image directly from this page on Steam.