No one can ever know when Valve will launch an update to CS:GO or Counter-Strike 2, just like no one expected the developers to do so on June 6. The latest update for the upcoming game introduced a series of major changes which will likely have a huge impact on the meta.
While June 6’s CS2 update tweaks a number of aspects, the three most important ones are swapping the map in the beta playtesting, and adding two new elements to the gameplay of loadouts and buybacks.
Another classic map, Mirage, has replaced Dust2 in the beta playtesting. From now on, all players with access to CS2 beta will be able to try their skills and new changes in one of the most beloved (and hated) CS maps in history.
Additionally, players will have new options when going into a match. They will be able to create their own loadout of 15 different guns (five pistols, mid-tier weapons, and rifles each) when entering a match. This also includes having the possibility to play with both the M4A1-S and M4A4 for counter-terrorists.
When buying your items at the start of the round, you will also have the chance to buy back items, just like in VALORANT. This means if you’ve bought the wrong weapon or utility item, you will be able to sell it during the buy time, get all your money back, and spend it the way you want it.
From our experience, these changes should have an enormous influence on the game, both for casual players and for professionals. With these and other already-announced changes, CS2 is set to create another beautiful chapter in the history books, and the community is all for it.
Full patch notes for CS2 June 6 update
Maps
Mirage has replaced Dust II on official CS2 Limited Test matchmaking servers.
Workshop Tools
“Introducing Counter-Strike 2 Workshop Tools which can be enabled and downloaded from in-game settings menu–these tools will allow community contributors to create weapon finishes, stickers, and maps.”
- Note: the Steam Community Workshop does not yet support uploading CS2 maps.
“The level editor (Hammer) now leverages GPU accelerated raytracing to both preview and bake lighting for CS2 maps. This significantly speeds up compile times, but as a result a GPU capable of raytracing is required for Hammer to be fully functional.”
- Hammer GPU Minimum Specs:
- Nvidia 2060Ti 6gb (2080Ti+ recommended)
- AMD 6600XT (6800XT+ recommended)
Weapons
The player loadout has been revised:
- Players have one Starting Pistol slot, four Pistol slots, five Mid-tier slots (previously “SMGs” and “Heavy”), and five Rifle slots, per team.
- Assign any (side-appropriate) weapon to any slot within its category.
- Supports drag-and-drop and has been redesigned to fit in on a single screen.
The buy menu interface has been revised:
- The wheel has been replaced with a grid showing all purchase options at the same time.
- Teammate purchases are displayed on the buy menu.
- Weapon “stats” display has been replaced with simple straightforward descriptions.
- Players can now refund any purchase that was purchased in the same round and has not been used.
Related: CS2 adds essential quality of life improvement from VALORANT
“Existing CS:GO items on the Steam Community Market can be inspected in Counter-Strike 2.”
Sub-tick
- Sub-tick movement is now more precise and less “floaty” (per player-feedback).
- Releasing movement keys now correctly convey their sub-tick timing.
- The top player of a triple-stack can now shoot.
- Fine-tuned weapon aim punch recovery to be latency-independent during sub-tick recovery on the client.
- Fine-tuned view punch camera shake effect during shooting to be both latency-independent and synchronized with all other sub-tick shooting effects on the client.
Volumetric Smoke
- Improved lighting/rendering when smoke overlaps multiple distinctly lit regions.
- HE grenade effect times on smoke have been reduced.
- Shotguns now create larger holes in smoke volumes.
Animation
- Adjustments to the viewmodel “inspect” to remove animation popping.
- Several viewmodel and blending animation fixes.
- Improved traversal animation.
- Jumping into the air and running off a ledge is now differentiated to allow for separate character motion.
Sound
- Player’s own footstep sounds are now predicted on the client for a latency-independent experience.
Rendering
- Improved performance and responsiveness in windowed and full-screen windowed modes.
- Fixed several bugs and rendering artifacts.
Input
- Fixed bug that would cause input to become permanently broken when multiple commands were bound to one key. Multi-binds are back, except for jump-throw binds (which are now a skillful part of CS).
- Commands bound to mouse wheels will now be reliably executed.
- Fixed bug that would cause input to execute incorrectly after taking over a bot in practice mode.
- Inspecting weapons is now predicted on the client for a more responsive experience.
VAC
VAC will now live ban and gracefully terminate the match at the end of the round (unless it was the last round and the cheater lost).
- The match will not affect any participants’ Skill Group.
- Players that were not lobbied with the VAC-banned player will earn XP for match.
For those with access to the limited test encounter any bugs with the update, Valve has encouraged reaching out directly via email to cs2team@valvesoftware.com with as much evidence of the issue.
As of now, there is no exact release date for CS2, but it’s set to launch sometime this summer.
