New Counter-Strike 2 Update Adds Long-Awaited Feature

Valve has released a brand-new Counter-Strike 2 update, bringing a host of important changes as well as the inclusion of the long-awaited left-hand viewmodel. This feature was previously featured in CS:GO, and it has finally made its way to Counter-Strike 2.

Last year’s announcement of Counter-Strike 2 came as a shock to the gaming community. Rumors of a Source 2 upgrade for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive had swirled for years, but Valve’s decision to rebrand the game showed a ton of confidence in what it was working on. Following up one of the games/”>best multiplayer FPS games of all time was always going to be a huge ask, but Valve has largely achieved that with Counter-Strike 2. While the game didn’t launch in the best state, Valve has remained committed to improving the game with frequent updates since its launch in September 2023.

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Valve detailed the latest Counter-Strike 2 update in a series of patch notes. One change stands out among all the others – the left-hand viewmodel previously featured in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has returned. This allows players to decide which side of the screen that their gun is on, with the ability to change on the fly. This was considered a strange omission from the launch of Counter-Strike 2, considering its importance in high-level play. Still, it’s a great quality-of-life improvement to the guns in Counter-Strike 2, and an addition that will be welcomed by the game’s community.

However, the left-hand viewmodel is not the only big change here. The Counter-Strike 2 maps are receiving a shake-up, with Dust 2 returning to the Active Duty map pool in place of Overpass. This means that Dust 2 will now be available to play in Premier mode, and will also replace Overpass in the professional scene, too. On top of these changes, improvements have been made to Inferno to make it more playable. Buy menu adjustments have also been made, and the Overwatch anti-cheat monitoring system seen in CS:GO is also back in the game. All in all, it’s a pretty huge update.

The original Counter-Strike game was released back in 2000, and it’s hard to believe how popular the series remains so many years into the future. Despite having so few releases in the series, Valve has perfected the tactical shooter formula, resulting in games that people come back to, time and time again. It remains one of the only games-all-time/”>Steam games that had an all-time peak of over a million players, and the release of Counter-Strike 2 has only increased its popularity. It’s safe to say that Counter-Strike is here to stay, especially with more updates of this quality.

Counter-Strike 2 Patch Notes for April 25 Update

[ VIEWMODEL ]

• Adjusted viewmodel bob movement
• Added “Preferred Viewmodel Left/Right Handedness” setting
• Added “Switch Viewmodel Left/Right Hand” key binding (default: US keyboard letter H) to switch hands temporarily during gameplay
• Viewmodel position setting and left/right hand state are now networked and visible to first-person spectators.
• Deprecated “Couch” viewmodel position setting

[ HUD ]

• Added “Radar Map Alternate Zoom” setting and “Toggle Radar Zoom” key binding to toggle between zoom levels during gameplay
• Added a radar icon for the local player when free cam spectating
• Added a grenade line-up reticle that appears shortly after pulling the pin. The timing can be configured for each grenade type independently
• Changed weapon Swap text (when pointing at a dropped weapon) to always show the gameplay name of the weapon instead of any customized name it might have.
• Added a kill feed icon for “in-air” kills
• Added the scoreboard to the ESC menu
• Added an icon to indicate bots on the scoreboard

[ BUY MENU ]

• Added a “Dropped Weapons” panel, which shows (and allows the direct pickup of) weapons that have been dropped by teammates that are standing in the buy zone
• Added the minimum amount of money that a player is guaranteed to have in the next round to the buy menu title bar. (thanks, Kadomos)

[ GAMEPLAY ]

• Increased Zeus movement speed and adjusted the attack cone
• Increased Zeus kill reward from $0 to $100 ($50 in Casual)
• Increased CZ75-Auto kill reward from $100 to $300 ($150 in Casual)
• Reduced XM1014 kill reward from $900 to $600 ($300 in Casual)

[ INVENTORY ]

• Lighting adjustments in Inspect background maps
• Added Wear Category to the info tooltip in the Inspect screen
• Added gameplay name in panels that used to only show customized name. E.g., Inspect screen, inventory tile

[ MAPS ]

• Replaced Overpass with Dust 2 in the Active Duty Group, current competition map pool, and Premier matchmaking
• Baggage
  • Opened roll-up doors at spawns
  • Updated models for some conveyors
  • Solidified stairs
  • Various bug fixes
• Inferno:
  • Removed overhanging building at top mid
  • Removed overhangs at bottom of banana
  • Various map tweaks to improve player collision and readability
• Overpass, Nuke, Vertigo, Mirage and Office
  • Bug and exploit fixes
  • Collision and line of sight adjustments
  • Minor performance improvements

[ WEAPON FINISHES ]

• AK-47 | Inheritance: Texture and mask adjustments
• USP-S | Jawbreaker: Corrected ambient occlusion texture

[ MISC ]

• Decoupled demo playback camera movement from playback speed. This allows moving the camera even if playback is paused
• Added ability to launch practice matches and workshop maps with party members
• Added Overwatch system to enable match demo review by trusted partners
• Copenhagen 2024 Major sticker capsules are on sale now -75% off
• Added ability to adjust brightness in windowed modes

Counter-Strike 2

An upgrade to 2012’s CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 is Valve’s definitive multiplayer first-person shooter. Created using the Source 2 engine, the 2023 release includes improved maps, audio, and visuals.

Released

September 27, 2023

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Source 2 Engine