Add Five New Maps Created by the Community

Valve has released a new exciting update for CS2 which includes five community maps. However, there is no indication of a new Operation being released with these additions, which is contrary to what many in the community were expecting.

Mills and Thera: New Maps for 5 vs 5 and Deathmatch

Two remarkable maps, Mills and Thera, have been included for 5v5 game modes and Deathmatch. Both maps have received a lot of reception among the workshop community. Thera, for instance, is expected to be one of the most outstanding ones. Designed by FMPONE, the author of the Cache, Thera was a testing ground for the team to hone their skills in Source 2 map creation before the Cache remake. The competitive scene is already looking forward to how Thera will fare in actual games.

Wingman Welcomes Assembly and Memento

For the fans of Wingman, Valve has come up with Assembly and Memento. These maps are among the best ones created by the CS2 Workshop and deserved to be included in the game. They are helpful in offering a change of pace for players who are bored with the regular Wingman maps. Each map delivers a different experience and is highly recommended for Wingman lovers.

The Return of Pool Day

Yes, Pool Day is back, and it is better than ever! Old CS players will recall this beauty from the 1.6 era, and now it’s back in Arms Race matchmaking. Pool Day is one of the most popular maps due to its small and confusing design, and the map remains entertaining even after its release for more than 20 years. CS2’s inclusion of this game guarantees that both the new and the old players can play this game to the later days.

Competitive Mode Changes and Other Updates

It also introduces major changes to the Competitive mode. Map-based skill groups have been changed and now to get a skill group, one only needs to win two matches. Also, previous skill groups have been rearranged to make the match more balanced, which used to be annoying to play against high rank players in low rank.

Moreover, there is a new MVP panel, and animated MVPs in the Premier mode are also added. These improvements bring a new dimension of fun and reward for the exceptional performers.

Of course, the lack of a new Operation might be a let down but Valve has not disappointed with these new maps and updates. The full patch notes can be found below:

CS2 Release Notes for 6/25/2024

[ MAPS ]

Community Maps

• Added community maps Thera and Mills to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch map groups
• Added community maps Memento and Assembly to the Wingman map pool
• Added community map Pool Day to the Arms Race map pool

Nuke

• Fixed c4 stuck spots

Ancient

• Fixed c4 stuck spots, holes in the world, and non-solids causing problems

Vertigo

• Fixed c4 stuck spots and clipping

Anubis

• Fixes for grenade collision and clipping

[ UI ]

• Updated the MVP panel in all game modes
• Added all-new animated MVP panels to Premier matches
• Added several new MVP conditions and adjusted prior MVP rules

[ GAMEPLAY ]

• In Competitive Matchmaking, per-map skill groups are now revealed after you earn two wins on a map.

[ VIDEO SETTINGS ]

Settings Recommendations

• Added a Settings Recommendation popup if your display’s refresh rate is set below its maximum at startup. Using your display’s highest refresh rate is generally recommended.
• Added a Settings Recommendation popup if NVIDIA G-Sync support is detected but not enabled at startup. Using G-Sync is generally recommended if your system supports it.
• Added a Settings Recommendation popup if NVIDIA G-Sync is enabled but not V-Sync and/or NVIDIA Reflex. It is generally recommended to enable all three settings together when they are available. Note that applying these settings will limit your frame rate to your display’s refresh rate or slightly lower, which is usually the smoothest-looking and lowest input latency settings combination. See this link for technical details.
• Removed “Main Menu Background Scenery” and “Item Inspect Background Scenery” settings from the Video Settings page. These settings are still available on the Main Menu and in the Item Inspect screens respectively.
• The “Refresh Rate” setting now shows your display’s current refresh rate in Windowed and Fullscreen Windowed modes.
• Removed the “Laptop Power Savings” setting which has never actually been configurable in CS2.
• Added a “Frame Pacing” section to the Advanced Video settings page.
• Added an “NVIDIA G-Sync” row to the Frame Pacing section which tells you whether or not G-Sync is active with your current display settings. This row may be hidden if you’re using the Vulkan renderer or if you’re not using an NVIDIA graphics card.
• Added “Maximum FPS In Game” and “Maximum FPS In Menus” sliders to the Frame Pacing section. These control the fps_max and fps_max_ui convars respectively.
• Increased the default “Maximum FPS In Menus” setting from 120 FPS to 200 FPS.
• The Advanced Video visual preview now uses the “In Game” maximum FPS instead of the “In Menus” maximum.