Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has long been full of Half-Life easter eggs - back in 2015, fans found graffiti of a number that, when Googled, led them to a zipcode reading 'Freeman'. Three years ago, fans also noticed a Black Mesa logo on the Professionals' sleeve buttons. Valve has been hiding Half-Life nods since CS:GO's launch, so it's only fitting that CS2 would feature some new references of its own.
CS2 isn't just Global Offensive ported to a new engine, Valve is also updating all of the models to make them crisper and more detailed. There are entire breakdowns on YouTube from those who got into the closed beta where they look through each and every weapon and inspect them closely to show off the improvements, but Richter Overtime went a step further and found the models in the files.
Here, he spotted a familiar name on the Dual Berettas' barrel - 'Gordon F.', with the F no doubt standing for Freeman, AKA the leading protagonist of both mainline Half-Life games and their episodic sequels. In earlier footage, particularly when inspecting in-game, this text was illegible due to lighting, often appearing faded out, but you can see it more clearly in the tweet below.
As for why the name is plastered on the Dual Berettas of all guns, it's a nod to Half-Life's high-definition pack. This came post-launch when Gearbox released the spin-offs Opposing Force and Blue Shift. It was a divisive 'upgrade' that added models with more polygons and detail, splitting the community because it made sweeping changes to aesthetics.
One of these changes was to the 9mm pistol. In the original game, it's a Glock 17, but in the pack, it's a Beretta M9, making this a layered easter egg that calls back to a niche part of Half-Life's history.
Half-Life fans naturally picked up on this obscure callback. One quote retweet from @maascchar simply said, "hd texture pack confirmed canon". Yep, Gordon used a Beretta when he gunned down the Nihilinth. Does it change much at all? Not really. Regardless, the sentiment was echoed by others, such as commenter @chirpods who said, "this proves that hd pack hl1 is canon".
This is just a reference, so don't take it as 'Half-Life 3 confirmed' or that Valve has an announcement raring to go. Over a decade of speculation around minor details was lesson enough, eh? But who knows, maybe there will be other references for us to find when CS2 launches.