September 23 Update: Added the 3x3 Rush mode, C4 can be applied with Stickers, and added new music kits.

CS Update on September 23:

[Premier ]

Updated the map selection process to give players more chances to play the maps they've been practicing.

Map selection process: Team 1 picks one map. Team 2 picks two maps. Team 1 picks the final map.

One of the four maps will be selected at random, and then the match will begin.

[ Rush ]

Rush is a fast-paced queued 3v3 game mode.

Players must fight through a series of combat arenas and reach the opposing team's castle to win the match.

The battle arenas in each match are selected at random, so no two matches are the same.

Eliminate the enemy team, or capture the tower when time runs out, to win the round.

[ Gameplay ]

Players can now perform a silent reload by holding the reload key, but it takes longer.

Unscooping sniper weapons no longer makes a sound.

Overall visual clarity has been improved, and the fidelity of bullet impact decals has been enhanced.

The ammo_grenade_limit_total setting now also limits the total number of grenades a player can buy in a round.

Chickens now take damage from Zeus x27.

This has been thoroughly tested: chickens get zapped into roast chicken and bounce into the air.

[ Settings ]

Crosshairs are now resolution-independent.

Added a "Crosshair/Scope" tab to the Settings menu, with updated crosshair options.

Added a new crosshair style and updated the default crosshair to "Dynamic Square," which better reflects weapon accuracy.

[ Engine ]

Updated the engine code to the latest version of Source 2.

[ Maps ]

Ancient fixes a hole in the world model in Long A Main Hall.

Adjusted door geometry and grenade collision on Jaguar.

Cache fixes some gaps around the blue door at Mid and adjusts collision.

Mirage reinforces the scaffolding next to the balcony at A site.

Train blocked a one-pixel gap on the boxes at A site.

[ Miscellaneous ]

Added the ability for players who are members of Steam Community groups to set a clan tag.

You can adjust your team tag in your player profile.

Added support for applying Stickers to C4.

It has a large surface area for stickers, and all six sides can be applied.

The Starjunk 95, Industrial Sunset Memories Music Kit is now available for purchase in both Standard and StatTrak versions from the STORE tab.

The halftime scoreboard data should now fully reflect the results of the previous round.

Fixed a case where players could bypass kick bans.

Players can now adjust music volume by game mode.

[ Workshop ]

Added the "minimap_volume" entity, which lets you enable a custom minimap image when a player is inside the volume.

Added "sky_camera_volume" and "sky_camera_volume_target", which enable custom skybox rendering at specific locations.

Added the "point_deathcam_bounds" entity to constrain the player's death camera.

Added the "env_shake_volume" entity, which only allows camera shake to occur within the specified volume.

[ Scripts ]

Added the CSRadarPoint entity.

Added the CSObservablePoint entity.

Added the AddTeamMoney API method.

Added the OnPlayerTeamChanged callback.

SetDialogVariableString now accepts localized strings.

Official Blog:

Rush Hour

Put the pedal down and go full throttle. Welcome to Rush, CS2’s new fast-paced queued 3v3 mode. Feel the back-and-forth as you push through a series of randomly selected combat arenas, and overpower the opposing team to win the match!

Make the most of your limited budget and valuable time to complete the objective. To win the round, capture the tower by eliminating the enemy team or before time runs out.

Fight through a series of combat arenas and capture the enemy castle to win the match. The arenas are randomly selected each time you play, so no two matches are the same.

Track your wins and compete for bragging rights on the Rush friends leaderboard!

Pick, Pick, Pick We believe that if you spend a lot of time developing strategies on a particular map, you should have a chance to benefit from that investment. So today, we’re changing Premier’s map-selection process: instead of banning maps until only one remains, each team now picks two maps. Once all four maps have been selected, one map is chosen at random and the match begins.

Visible Changes Today's update also includes several quality-of-life improvements, starting with blood and bullet impact visibility. Blood is now gorier, and bullet impacts now feel more forceful.

But wait, there’s more! Crosshairs just got a major upgrade, with new shapes and other features added, so check out the new crosshair/scope settings and build the custom crosshair of your dreams.

Clan tags are back! Pick one of your Steam groups in your player profile, and your clan tag will appear next to your name no matter where you play.

Changes You Can’t See (or Hear)

Today’s update adds a few gameplay tweaks that make your decisions a bit harder to read. You can now hold the reload key to perform a silent reload, but there’s a tradeoff: silent reloads take significantly longer. And for players who like to scope in with scoped weapons, unscope is now completely silent, as it always should have been.

A new music box has arrived in town, bringing the sounds of Starjunk 95. Experience music from the hottest station in the galaxy, now available!