Now on Beta, Valve’s Counter Strike: Global Offensive is spending a lot of time in the spotlight, with its official release date destined to happen this August 2012.

The latest incarnation of the endearing first-person multiplayer series, Counter Strike: Global Offensive will be available in Mac and PC (via Steam), along with versions for the PlayStation 3 (via the PlayStation Network) and the Xbox 360 (via the Xbox Marketplace).

Slated to feature new game modes, new characters, new maps and updated modes, Counter Strike: Global Offensive is also pegged to still feature the series’ existing modes, along with classic maps which have become so familiar to most Counter Strike players.

Initially announced close to a year ago, Valve took its time in developing and enhancing Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and maintains that the game won’t be working with its once-proposed cross-platform feature.

Featured during E3 this year, reactions to the new Counter Strike have been mixed, with former hard core Counter Strike fans not unified in their support for the game, as still-playing Counter Strike-ers can’t wait for the new release.

As a first-person shooter genre game, Counter Strike 1.6 first came out in retail in 2000, and is ascribed to have been pivotal in the rise and popularity of multiplayer themed games.

Its popularity status as a first-person shooter has likened it with Blizzard’s StarCraft, which had propelled the Strategy game genre to higher highs.

With July nearing its end and August just around the corner, Counter Strike: Global Offensive will soon get the chance to gain the superstar first-person shooter status it once held.