Help me find a good word to describe this story. People try to picket in front of Valve’s offices, in an attempt to get word on Half-Life: Episode 3. Instead, Valve announces today that they will be releasing a sequel to the popular Counter Strike franchise.

One side is sure to be thoroughly disappointed. The other is sure to have much rejoicing.

This sequel, effectively titled Counter Strike: Global Offensive, doesn’t have much information floating about at this point, other than a bunch of rumored bits and pieces. What has been confirmed so far is the game will sport new gameplay modes, matchmaking options, and other neat bells and whistles. Also confirmed is that there will be a playable build over at the Eurogamer Expo in September, and at PAX Prime later on, hinting that they’ve been working on this for quite sometime, instead of working on Episode 3.

The original Counter Strike was released over a decade ago to much critical acclaim, and continues to be one of the most played games in the world. It’ll be interesting to see how Valve follows up such a legacy.