Community Maps and No Operation: Valve Disappoints Players with Major Update for Counter-Strike 2

Valve’s free-to-play competitive shooter Counter-Strike 2 has received its first major update since the series’ 25th anniversary, but its content has left fans disappointed.

Image source: Valve

Recall that Valve itself celebrated Counter-Strike’s anniversary with a congratulatory message on the franchise’s microblog, but behind-the-scenes information indicated that a major patch with the first new operation in three years was approaching.

The patch has arrived, but there is still no operation: the main feature of the update for Counter-Strike 2 released on the night of June 26 was the debut of community maps in the game:

• Thera and Mills have appeared in Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes;
• Memento and Assembly have been added to Wingman mode;
• Pool Day has entered the Arms Race mode.

Among other things, the patch includes animated MVP cards (most valuable player in the match) in Premier mode, new conditions for obtaining MVP and adjustments to old ones. Blogger ALE showed what the modified panels look like (see the video below).

Additionally, the update reset all players’ ranks in Competitive Mode (recalibrating after two wins on a map), added a maximum frame rate slider, and pop-up tips on how to adjust this setting.

In the comments to the announcement of the patch, users expressed their dissatisfaction with the small number of changes and the lack of a new operation. “I didn’t expect anything, but you disappointed me again,” KatoBuff shared.

Counter-Strike 2 is a free upgrade of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the version on the Source 2 engine. The game was released on the night of September 28, 2023 and completely replaced CS:GO.