Counter-Strike 2 is here, it’s live, it’s finally free for everyone to play. As multiplayer shooter stalwart CSGO rides off into the sunset, Valve introduces a range of new features, details, and fixes that we’ve been hoping to see in Counter-Strike for years. The CS2 beta is over. The journey that started all the way back in 2000, and has seen us battle it out for decades across Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike Source, and Global Offensive, begins a new chapter. Valve is going hard on Counter-Strike cheaters already, and we’re pleased to announce that chickens can finally fall off the towers on Vertigo. The first major Counter-Strike 2 update is a lot.
Before you get started, you’re going to need the best Counter-Strike 2 settings and all the details for how the new Counter-Strike 2 Premier mode operates. Built on the foundations of CSGO, this is nevertheless a revamped and revitalized version of the iconic FPS game, and there’s a lot to learn. At the same time, Valve is already implementing a slew of changes, updates, and fixes to make CS2 pop. Here’s everything new in the first major Counter-Strike 2 update post launch.
Firstly, Valve has a gift for new Counter-Strike players in the form of ‘Training Day,’ an introductory mode that serves as a tutorial for getting into the shooter for the first time. After 23 years, CS has amassed a dedicated and expert playerbase, and iterated on its core mechanics several times over. Getting started can be intimidating, but Training Day serves as a nice, gentle on-ramp. Weekly drops are replaced with a weekly care package, allowing you to choose from weapon cases, weapon finishes, and graffiti. Casual and deathmatch maps are now divided into separate groups, and you can favorite and shuffle around loadout items.
Valve is also cracking down on Counter-Strike 2 cheaters. As per the latest update, if a player is caught cheating and given a permanent ban, all of that player’s associates will also be punished by losing their profile rank and CS rating. Valve is not clear about the precise meaning of “associates” but it likely refer to players who regularly pair up with cheaters, even if they don’t use cheats themselves. This tactic can be exploited to boost one’s win rate and rank.
The new Counter-Strike 2 update also notes that in Premier mode, players with a high and established CS rating cannot pair up with players whose CS rating is low, a change seemingly designed to prevent players artificially being boosted up the leaderboards.
And then there are the small details. Agent character models now have animated eyes, for some extra realism, and chickens can fall from the towers on Vertigo. The bad news there is that they can’t fly – if you see a chicken wander over the edge of a building, I’m afraid to say it’s cooked. First-person damage sounds are now more “impactful” and Valve says it has “improved consistency of bullet penetration,” so if you ever felt frustrated that sometimes you can hit opponents through surfaces, and sometimes not, that might now be a thing of the past. With more players on Steam than the other top nine games combined, you can see the entire Counter-Strike 2 update, courtesy of Valve, below:
Counter-Strike 2 release notes
Gameplay
- Enabled Competitive matchmaking
- Enabled Wingman matchmaking
- Enabled Private Matchmaking
- Added Training Day, a brief introductory experience for brand new players
- Improved player-against-player movement collision
- Improved consistency of bullet penetration
- Player reflections in water are now occluded by smoke
- Molotov fire now floats above the water
- Fixed character ambient occlusion being visible through walls
- C4 bomb lights don’t reflect through walls
- Fixed some rare cases of viewmodel lighting corruption
- Adjusted smoke behavior to cover cases where smoke would stop less than a player’s height above the ground
- Fix various bugs with switching teams in the middle of offline Deathmatch
- Fixed Famas reloading too early
- Chickens can finally fall off Vertigo
Sound
- Added the new CS2 default music kit
- Added new audio customization settings
- Various mix tweaks and adjustments
- Various bug fixes related to music kits
- Updated the game startup sound
- Added background ambience to main menu scenes
- Restored the clutch_mode_toggle function
- Fixed a bug where sometimes c4 defuse and planting sounds could not be heard in certain locations
- Fixed some surfaces being incorrectly tagged causing incorrect footstep sounds in certain locations
- Fixed a bug where attackers could not hear headshot feedback through wallbangs or smokes
- Body damage feedback for attackers will now play within the same distance as it does for onlookers through smokes and wallbangs
- Fixed a bug where scoping in affected directional sound
- First person damage sounds are now more impactful
- Removed several legacy audio convars that existed in CS:GO but never had an effect in CS2
Animation
- Adjusted character additive lean animation
- Adjusted jump animation, particularly when repeatedly jumping
- Adjusted jiggle-peeking animation
- Adjusted animated character head position relative to camera position
- Added bullet belt to negev
- Reduced foot sliding when carrying slower weapons
- Fixed character momentarily standing during crouch-planting animation
- Fixed incorrect viewmodel deploy speeds
- Fixed pops in some weapon inspect animations
- Inspecting weapons may now interrupt deploy animation
Matchmaking
- When one or more party members get convicted of cheating and permanently banned, all their associates will be penalized with loss of Profile Rank and CS Rating
- In Premier, players with a very high established CS Rating are not allowed to party with accounts that do not have an established CS Rating
Maps
- Various bug fixes and tweaks for all shipped maps
- Adjusted vertical audio occlusion boundaries in Nuke and Vertigo
- Added an extra bell in Inferno
- Casual and Deathmatch maps are now separated into multiple map groups
Misc.
- CS:GO Players who started playing more than a week ago will receive a commemorative CS:GO coin and CS:GO Music Kit
- Added Store tab to main menu
- Enabled all interactions with inventory items
- Replaced weekly drops with a weekly Care Package. Choose from weapon cases, weapon finishes, and graffiti
- Added demo playback support
- Added the ability to favorite and shuffle loadout items
- Added new item icons
- Office and Vertigo are available as main menu scenery
- Various updates for weapon finishes, including fixing overly strong wear on several Custom Paint Job finishes
- Reworked Phoenix Street Soldier balaclava texture to resolve visibility issues
- Enabled animated eyes on agent character models
Workshop tools
- Game clients running in workshop tools mode are not allowed to connect to VAC secure game servers
- Added an all-new help system featuring contextually relevant guides and information. Guides include gray scale value ranges for alpha channel masking, paint-by-number mask color assignments based on current finish type, and much more!
- Removed dynamic props from solid color inspect backgrounds
Make sure you know everything about the Counter-Strike 2 ranks system and how it works in the new generation of shooter. We’ve also tested and perfect the Counter-Strike 2 best binds, to help you play like a true pro.