Welcome to Counter-Strike 2's fourth season

The team shooter Counter-Strike 2 by Valve needs no special introduction — according to Steam statistics, it's the platform's main game in terms of online users. But even a popular esports discipline sometimes needs improvement. That's why, with the change of seasons, the developers keep adding things to their creation and changing some minor details. The game welcomed 2026 with an update to sounds, the jumping system, arsenal, and certain details on the maps. And of course, there were the traditional pranks — instead of chickens, monkeys now «graze» on one of the locations.

Let's start with melee weapons: you'll now have to use the knife more carefully, as the sound of its use now depends on the amount of damage dealt — the more hits you land on an opponent with one strike, the lower the pitch of the sound effect. Of course, everyone around will notice this — and react accordingly. The developers have also strengthened the positions of submachine guns like the MP7 and MP5-SD to encourage users to use them more often in matches. You can test the new features in action by earning a seasonal reward in the form of a medal with special markings. To do this, you just need to have an active account, 25 wins in Premier League matches, and an active CSR at the end of the season.

As for the maps, Valve employees have brought Anubis back to the game after a break. Monkeys have appeared on the Stronghold map, and fan ideas from the action movie have been implemented. The changes also affected gameplay — for example, jumps are now calculated more accurately on servers, and they no longer affect characters' stamina consumption. Yes, bunny hopping on Mirage stopped working with the patch. However, private servers still offer the option to revert to how it was. Finally, the arsenal has been supplemented with an AK-47 in the stunning «Aphrodite» skin.