Image: Valve
Counter-Strike 2’s first major update before its summer launch has arrived, and it finally allows players to refund weapons during buy time.
Valve has dropped Counter-Strike 2’s first major update, which adds the ability to refund weapons, changes up the loadout system and introduces Mirage as a playable map to replace Dust 2. All of these changes are now live in the game’s ongoing Limited Test, ahead of its full launch later this summer.
The first major change included in this update has been a long time coming. The buy system is getting revamped for the sequel, with players now able to refund all weapons, armour and grenades purchased as long as it’s done within buy time. You won’t be stuck with a certain loadout due to a misclick anymore, as you can just sell it back and make a different purchase.
The buy menu interface has also been revised, with the wheel now replaced by a grid that displays every purchase players can make at the same time. Teammate purchases will be displayed on this menu, and weapon stats have been replaced with simple descriptors. Overall, these changes streamline the buy menu to make things look neater on PC and give players more freedom within an otherwise tight in-game economy.
Player loadouts are also getting overhauled. Now, players have 1 starting pistol slot, 4 pistol slots, 5 mid-tier slots (previously labelled ‘SMGs’ and ‘Heavy’) and 5 rifle slots per team. This gives players more options for what they want to carry into a game, seeing as weapons being classified into different categories means they can also be carried in different slots. Valve also has a new way to add more weapons to Counter-Strike 2 now, and one has to imagine that they’re taking advantage of it. The loadout menu also supports drag-and-drop and now fits on a single screen.
Valve is also swapping out Dust 2 for a new map in Counter-Strike 2’s limited test matchmaking servers: Mirage. For players in the limited test, it’s been three months of playing the same map over and over, so this will come as a relief. This map doesn’t come with a whole bunch of visual and design changes, so it’s possible that Valve might mess around with it a bit more in the months ahead.
On the technical side, the Hammer level editor uses GPU accelerated raytracing to preview and bake lighting for Counter-Strike 2 maps more quickly, but that also means that the feature now requires a raytracing-capable GPU to function. Other changes included in this update are improvements to sub-tick movement, changes to volumetric smoke and animations, and a few bug fixes.
You can check out the full release notes for this update here.
