At long last and 'with gracious permission from Valve,' Garry's Mod now contains 'most of Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 Episodic content' even if you don't own those games

So long, pink checkerboards that represent missing textures! Adiós, pitch-black skies that signify an absent skybox! Don't let the door hit you on the way out, enormous 3D model that says ERROR where a car should be!

Those have been common sights for users of Garry's Mod for, oh, let's see… 20 years or so? And one of the biggest culprits for those missing textures and models is that players didn't own the games that those assets were pulled from: Half-Life 2's episodic entries and Counter-Strike: Source. You could join a community map that used assets from those games, but if you didn't own them, you would get an eyeful of pink and black or that big ol' ERROR sign.

Hurrah, then, because the latest update for Garry's Mod solves that problem in a way that doesn't require players buying and installing extra Valve games.

"The biggest user-facing change in this update brings most of Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 Episodic content to Garry's Mod by default, with gracious permission from Valve," wrote Rubat, programmer for Facepunch Studios, on the official Garry's Mod site. "This means that you no longer need to own those games and have them installed to play on community maps that expect you to have this content."

Which isn't to say some players won't occasionally still encounter a big old pink and black chessboard where a mailbox or clock should be. It all depends on what map you're joining and the assets it contains. It also doesn't mean you get the CS:S and HL2 Episodes maps files themselves.

"This won't eliminate all instances of missing content (missing textures and ERROR models), but it will address a majority of instances of this issue," said Rubat. "Please do note that maps from those games are not included, so you'll still need to install those games to use their maps, and neither are voice over files and music, due to licensing issues."

I have to admit, it's a little hard for me to imagine owning Garry's Mod but not owning all the CS or HL2 games in 2025, but then again, I'm quite an oldie: I was playing Valve games before Garry and his Mod even came along. But I expect there's a whole buncha kids who got into Garry's Mod via videos like Skibidi Toilet, without first experiencing the crowbar-slingin' adventures of Gordon Freeman or the eternal efforts of terrorists trying to blow up a few crates in a completely deserted Middle-eastern courtyard.

As someone in the Garry's Mod subreddit put it: "Big day for the 12 year olds in my workshop comments."