A common question within the CS2 community is whether Prime can play with non-Prime players. The short answer is yes, but for Prime players to play with non-Prime players, they’ll have to invite them to their lobbies before matchmaking. If there’s no non-Prime in the lobby, Prime players will never encounter non-Prime players in a match.
What are Prime Status and Prime Lobbies?
Let’s start with a discussion on what Prime CS2 is. Prime is a status upgrade in CS2 that players can purchase for $14.99, either from the in-game store or the CS2 Steam store page. Purchasing the Prime status upgrade gives players access to the Premier game mode, a competitive rank, and several other features.
One key feature locked behind CS2 Prime is access to Prime matchmaking lobbies. Only Prime players can join these lobbies, which means if you have CS2 Prime, non-Prime players can’t join you in a CS2 match. These lobbies help drastically lower the probability of you having to deal with hackers.
Prime & Non-Prime Players Playing CS2 Together
Fortunately, Prime and non-Prime players can still play together in the match. To do that, the non-prime player can join the lobby of a Prime player, or vice versa, before initiating matchmaking. After joining each other’s lobby, they can enter a match together.
However, a lobby containing even a single non-Prime player is considered a non-Prime lobby. In other words, if you are playing with someone who’s non-Prime, you will encounter other non-Prime players in the match.
Conclusion
Technically, Prime players can play with non-Prime players in CS2. However, to play together in a single match, one has to join the other before matchmaking. If you have no non-Prime players in your lobby, it will be considered a prime lobby, and you won’t encounter any non-Prime players.
