Train! Premier Season 2! Price changes! It’s all here in the new CS2 update, which Valve has been teasing for a few days now. There’s plenty to discuss, so let’s not waste any time and dive into the nitty-gritty details that you need to know.
Train replaces Vertigo in CS2 map pool
After numerous attempts at reworking Vertigo, Valve has finally decided to let it go. That’s right – just as it has been in competitive CS2 tournaments since the start of 2025, Vertigo is out of the Active Duty map pool in Premier Mode. Replacing it is Train, which finally arrives after its full addition to the game back in November.
Some have argued that Train isn’t ready for competitive play. Its inclusion in Premier in the new CS2 update will go a long way to improve this, as players learn the ins and outs of the map going forward.
Premier Season 2 is here
No, this is not a drill. Counter-Strike 2 Premier Season 2 is finally here! Given the game was released back in September 2023, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Valve had forgotten that Seasons were even a thing. Rest assured, it hasn’t, and you can now jump into the action in Season 2 of CS2 Premier.
If you earned a Counter-Strike Rating back in Season 1, you should now have a cool badge indicating your status as an early player. You can even click on the badge to take a look at your stats across the Season, which should look like this (don’t judge mine, please):
Valve has confirmed that Season 2 will run from now until the BLAST Austin Major. Players who have a CS Rating after that will earn a similar medal, too.
CS2 weapon price and accuracy changes
CT-side players might notice something has changed next time they log onto CS2. That’s because Valve has also made some balance changes to the price and accuracy of the weapons. The important details are as follows:
- The M4A4 has been dropped to $2900, matching the M4A1-S.
- The FAMAS has been dropped to $1950, and its accuracy has been improved.
- The MP9, MP5-SD, and MP7 have all had their crouching accuracy reduced.
Overall, it’s a pretty solid set of changes. If you want to read more, check out the full set of CS2 patch notes below.
Counter-Strike 2 Patch Notes for 29th January, 2025
[ PREMIER ]
- Premier Season Two is here, and Premier matchmaking has resumed
- Every player who earned a CS Rating during Season One will receive a commemorative Premier Season One Medal which includes detailed Season Statistics
- Every player will have their CS Rating recalibrated based on their Season One performance, and will need to re-establish their CS Rating by winning 10 matches
- Train has been added to the Active Duty map pool
- Vertigo has been removed from the Active Duty map pool
[ GAMEPLAY ]
- M4A4 price reduced to $2,900
- FAMAS accuracy improved and price reduced to $1,950
- Reduced crouching accuracy for the MP9, MP5-SD, and MP7
- Adjusted scope dot on AUG/SG to be more useable at range
[ UI ]
- Added a new radar dynamic zoom option that will grow or shrink the radar to include your team mates, bomb and other detected elements
- Adjusted grenade order in spectator UI to match weapon selection order
- Increased brightness of carried C4 in UI
[ MAPS ]
Train
- Removed a boost angle from Long Dog to Bombsite A
- Fixed lighting artifacts on double-sided materials
[ MISC ]
- Added fallback logic to allow playing incomplete demo files, either copied from an ongoing live match or recovered after a game server crash
- Fixed an exploit where users could use secondary fire on R8 Revolver and then sell it back
- Counter-strafe summaries are now available in game server log data distributed via log address in addition to console logs
