Today we’re updating the CS2 Limited Test with a new map (Inferno!) and the all new CS Rating.
Your CS Rating is a visible measurement of your Counter-Strike performance, and it will determine where you stand on global and regional leaderboards. To get your CS Rating, play matches in the updated Premier mode (our Active Duty Pick-Ban competitive mode) either on your own or with your friends.
Additionally, today we’re starting the process of inviting as many eligible players as possible to the Limited Test. To be eligible for a CS2 Limited Test invite players must have CS:GO Prime status, an active official competitive matchmaking Skill Group, and play majority of their official matchmaking games in one of the regions where the Limited Test is available.
Saving Time
Over the past decade, we’ve shipped updates to the economy and weapon balance to trim the fat and reduce the number of uncontested rounds in a match of CS.
Because of these changes, exciting competitive matches can be resolved with fewer rounds. And shorter matches mean players can play more, and more often. So with CS2, we’re moving to a maximum of 24 rounds in regulation time (with a 6 round overtime in case of a tie) for Premier, Competitive, and the Majors.
We expect the structure and flow of matches to evolve over time as the community adapts. And we’re excited to see where they go next.
Release Notes for 8/18/2023
[ GAMEPLAY ]
Fixed bullet penetration through players
[ SOUND ]
Audio mix tweaks and adjustments
Release Notes for 8/17/2023
[ MAPS ]
All maps previously shipped in the Limited Test are available in casual and deathmatch matchmaking
All maps and game modes previously shipped in the Limited Test are available for offline play
[ GAMEPLAY ]
Dropped bombs no longer sink in water
Reworked the bullet penetration system
Enabled bot takeover where applicable
Release Notes for 8/16/2023
[ MAPS ]
Italy
Various bug fixes and tweaks
[ MISC ]
Added more hostage variants
Release Notes for 8/15/2023
[ GAMEPLAY ]
Competitive and Private Matchmaking are currently disabled in the Limited Test
Minor adjustments to smoke cloud shape
[ MAPS ]
Added Italy to Deathmatch and Casual game modes
Removed Anubis and Ancient
[ ECONOMY ]
Unified StatTrak position on both CS2 M4 models to not occlude stickers
Adjusted sticker sizes on CS2 M4A4 so they no longer overlap
[ MISC ]
Updated hostage models
[ SOUND ]
Audio mix tweaks and adjustments
[ WORKSHOP TOOLS ]
Added support for multiple team introduction variants
Release Notes for 8/7/2023
[ MAPS ]
Anubis
Removed from Competitive mode
Various bug fixes and tweaks
Ancient
Added to Competitive mode
Various adjustments to lighting
Added missing collision detection to some debris
[ MISC ]
Various adjustments to C4 animation
Water rendering performance improvements
Release Notes for 8/3/2023
[ MAPS ]
Anubis
Improved movement clipping map-wide
Adjustments to collision around pillars
Plugged holes in world geometry
Fixed issues with weapon and bomb clipping through world geometry
Ancient
Improved water clarity at T spawn
Adjustments to jumpable locations
Adjustments to collision around corners
Various adjustments to lighting
[ MISC ]
Fixed an issue with round restart in the middle of weapon reloading
Fixed a case where incendiary grenades fail to detonate in water
Ragdoll limbs splash when they hit water
A Level Playing Field
Counter-Strike is at its best when teams compete on a level playing field and when ability is the only limit to their success.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen professional Counter-Strike drift away from that ideal. The ecosystem has become gradually less open, with access to the highest levels of competition increasingly gated by business relationships.
We think that Counter-Strike should be an open sport. So we’re going to add new requirements to running large-scale competitive events. The finer details are still in progress, but here are the broad strokes:
Tournament organizers will no longer have unique business relationships or other conflicts of interest with teams that participate in their events.
Invitations to all tournaments will use our ranking system (detailed here), or otherwise be determined by open qualifiers.
Any compensation for participating teams—prize pool or otherwise—will be made public and will be driven by objective criteria that can be inspected by the community.
Since tournament organizers have existing long term commitments, these requirements will take effect as of 2025. There will be some rough edges to the transition, but we’re committed to the long-term health of Counter-Strike as a sport and are looking forward to its bright and open future.
Release Notes for 8/2/2023
[ GAMEPLAY ]
Disabled Wingman
[ MAPS ]
Added Anubis to Deathmatch, Casual, and Competitive game modes
Added Ancient to Deathmatch and Casual game modes
Removed Overpass and Vertigo
[ MISC ]
Taught chickens how to swim
Weapons splash when dropped in water
Adjusted grenade/water interaction sounds
[ ANIMATION ]
Improved head animation when crouching while running
Improved foot animation when quickly alternating between standing still and moving
