Our prayers are answered: New huge CS2 update

It's been almost two months since a new update to CS2 was shipped, but Valve have now hit us with the biggest update to the game since its release and we couldn't be more excited to get our hands on it.

An 8.5GB update, it's absolutely huge, and there's a lot of content for us to go over including a new case, new stickers, new music kits, Arms Race, and an end to the biggest issue the game has faced since its release.

Let's get into it.

Goodbye peeker's advantage

Ever since the release of Counter-Strike 2, players and pros alike have moaned about the existence of a massive peeker's advantage in the game.

If you somehow don't know what that means, allow us to explain. Peeker's advantage is an unintended mechanic that gives an unfair advantage to players who take aggressive duels, and as a result, makes it difficult to hold angles.

In the patch notes for the new CS2 update, Valve says they have 'Reduced peeker's advantage in many cases'. They further this by saying 'The amount of peeker's advantage in the steady state is reduced by 16ms'.

Thank. The. Lord.

Arms Race returns

Although we were excited by the release of Counter-Strike 2, just like many others, we were slightly dismayed that some of our favourite game modes were missing from the game.

Thankfully, after the new CS2 update, that is no longer the case, as Arms Race has returned to the game.

A classic casual game mode, Arms Race is a game mode that sees each player given an assortment of weapons as they race to get to the highest level and finish in first place.

The addition of Arms Race has also seen two new maps added to the game, Baggage and Shoots.

New case, stickers, and Music Kits

It's been a while since we've seen any cosmetic updates to Counter-Strike, so how about three at once?

Kicking us off in the cosmetic department is a brand new case, the Kilowatt Case. In our opinion, this case is one of the best cases they've ever added to the game, and we can already tell that the AK-47 Inheritance is going to make us remortgage our homes.

It's so beautiful

Just one of many highlights from the new case, we also like the look of the USP-S Jawbreaker, the M4A1-S Black Lotus, the M4A4 Etch Lord, and the Lego-inspired Glock-18 Block-18.

The case will also feature a brand new knife, the Kukri knife, as well as the very first Zeus x27 skin, the very apt, Zeus-themed Olympus.

Yeah, that's a fitting debut skin for the Zeus.

The second cosmetic addition to Counter-Strike 2 in the new update is a new Sticker Capsule, the Ambush Sticker Capsule. It features 21 brand-new, brightly coloured stickers that are going to look great on the side of our guns, especially considering the stickers move.

The bigger update to stickers, however, is that you can now add a fifth sticker to your weapons and that stickers can now be placed in custom positions rather than the traditional four-set places.

Finally, we have the addition of six new Music Kits as part of the NIGHTMARE Music Kit Box.

Gameplay updates

The addition of the Olympus skin isn't the only change to the Zeus x27 in the new CS2 update. A much larger change in the grand scheme of things, the Zeus x27 will now recharge after 30 seconds in all game modes.

Smokes have also received changes in the new Counter-Strike 2 update. The patch note reads "Smokes now cast shadows", an update that could see huge ramifications within the game as they will deny the shadow advantage on certain angles.

Other updates include the addition of a 'Refund all' button to the buy menu, as well as a new sound for the M249.

For the complete list of patch notes, click here.