Counter-Strike 2 Update Patch Notes (8th July 2026)
Cache enters the Active Duty rotation as Premier Season Five kicks off. The bigger story: C4 damage is now baked into map geometry, changing how explosives work across every defusal map.
Cache is back in the Active Duty pool as of today, replacing Overpass. That's the headline rotation shift, but the real change sits deeper: C4 explosion damage has been completely redesigned across all official defusal maps.
Instead of applying damage instantly in a fixed radius, the shockwave now expands from the bomb's centre according to precomputed simulation values baked directly into each map's geometry. This means damage falloff and coverage vary by location, and players will need to rethink positioning and cover assumptions they've relied on for years. It's a substantial shift that touches every post-plant scenario in the game.
Beyond that, Valve's added two new weapon collections (Spy Tech and Arabesque) and two sticker packs (Fruits & Vegetables and Auto Racing) tied to the Call to Arms initiative. The Armory's also rotating out Train 2025, Sport & Field weapons, and Sugarface 2 and Elemental Craft stickers. A few community maps have rotated in and out of Competitive and Wingman, and there's a batch of clipping fixes and performance improvements scattered through the notes. Full patch notes are here.
Full Patch Notes
▲ Buff▼ Nerf✓ Fix◆ TweakPREMIER
- Premier Season Five has begun
- Added Cache to the Active Duty Map Pool
- Removed Overpass from the Active Duty Map Pool
GAMEPLAY
- Re-designed effective range and extent of C4 explosion damage on all official defusal-mode maps.
- Damage is now applied according to precomputed simulation values, baked into the compiled map.
- Explosion shockwave damage now rapidly expands from the center of the explosion instead of being applied instantly.
ARMORY
- Added two new weapon collections based on the recent Call to Arms community announcement: Spy Tech + Arabesque
- Added two new sticker collections based on the recent Call to Arms community announcement: Fruits & Vegetables + Auto Racing
- Train 2025 and Sport & Field weapon collections are no longer available in the Armory
- Sugarface 2 and Elemental Craft sticker collections are no longer available in the Armory
WORKSHOP
- Updated "Custom Paint Job Extended"
- Added option to include a dedicated overlay mask texture
- Added option to set unique overlay UV randomization separate from albedo UV randomization
MISC
- Reduced the performance cost of showing the scoreboard.
- Fixed a case where material blending effects would disappear when you got too close (e.g. the dirt on the barrels in Inferno Banana).
- Increased sticker rotation precision to allow half-degree increments on application screen.
MAP SCRIPTING
- Added Instance.QueueAfterThinks
- Added Instance.OnWeaponDrop
- Added CSWeaponBase.GetOriginalOwner
- Fixed a crash when the name passed to Instance.RegisterCheatCommand collided with an existing command.
- Added file name and line number to errors caught during the CompileModule step of script loading.
- Removed support for deprecated vts assets.
ENGINE
- Updated engine code to the latest version of Source 2
MAPS
- Removed community maps: Warden, Stronghold, Alpine, and Sanctum from all game modes
- Added community maps Boulder, Fachwerk, and Shelter to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes
- Added community maps Debris and El Dorado to Wingman mode
Cache
- Various clipping adjustments
Dust II
- Fixed pixel gap Outside Tunnel
- Clipping adjustment Outside Tunnel
Inferno
- Clipping fix to prevent pixel boost at Top of Mid
Sources
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Written by
Nathan LeesGaming journalist and founder of XP Gained. Covering patch notes, breaking news, and updates across 160+ games.
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