New feature in CS2 raises mixed feelings. „Exploding” cases can contain skins for $1,500

A new type of loot boxes and some improvements for moderators have been added to Counter-Strike 2 in the latest update. However, there have been some issues and controversies along the way.

After dealing with the plague of cheaters (or at least giving them a hard time), Valve released a modest but significant update to the "second" CS. There aren't many changes in the patch, and among them is the addition of various and higher-quality sounds for grenades. According to some players, it's a big improvement, but as always, there are also people who think this new feature is unnecessary.

However, much more interesting (not necessarily positive) are the implications of two other changes.

Better-worse loot boxes?

The first one concerns the Genesis Collection and the "terminals" connected with it. You can get it as part of the weekly supply drop, but instead of the usual cases, players have 72 hours to choose their loot after "opening" it.

After activating the terminal, the player will see one offer with a set price, paid from the Steam wallet. If the user doesn't make a purchase, they'll get another offer, but if they reject it 5 times, the terminal will explode and disappear from their inventory.

For now, players seem to have mixed feelings about this idea. Mainly because in the future, the prices of these skins are supposed to be regulated by the Steam market (items from terminals cannot be traded for a week after obtaining them). At least that's what the data miners' investigation suggests. Anyway, even now, the most expensive loot from the Genesis Collection can cost... over 1,500 dollars (via Reddit).

It's worth noting that in the latest update, Valve mentioned that they are making the terminal available in Belgium. Some players suspect that this new feature was meant to bypass the gambling regulations that have been applied to traditional loot boxes in this country. The solution itself resembles the Night Market event from Valorant.

Chess and CS like Roblox

Among other, less controversial changes, Valve has added a map scripting system to CS 2 that can be used on fan-made arenas. There's also a demo map in the game where you can find (according to the creators) "the second oldest game in the world," and most importantly, see how this new feature works in practice.

In practice, this means that moderators, especially map creators, have much more freedom to create new content. Since these scripts are based on JavaScript, people with experience in this system can now show even more creativity.

Many players are already eagerly anticipating what fan map creators will make for them. However, some believe that this could turn CS 2 into something akin to Roblox, with many game modes having little in common with the main gameplay. Let's be honest, though: CS and Valve games, in general, have been doing this for quite some time.

Apart from those two new features, the patch also made various improvements to the consistency of subtick timing when shooting. However, here we return to complaints, because despite the initial enthusiasm, the majority of players agree that Valve has somehow "messed up" with the subticks.

It's not clear exactly what's going on, but internet users are pointing out a strange recoil (or lack thereof), and some of them feel like the creators tried to make the shooting in the sequel more similar to the previous game in the series. However, with probably poor results, although here and there you can find fans of this change.

Counter-Strike 2

September 27, 2023

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• Overview

• patches and updates
• Valve
• microtransactions
• CS / Counter-Strike (franchise)
• FPP shooters (FPS)
• online shooters
• lootboxes