CS2’s Cologne Major hub is live, and Valve cleaned up a few rough spots
The patch adds the IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub and Viewer Pass support, while also fixing overtime scoreboard behavior, pickup hints, and a couple of visual quirks.
Valve pushed a new Counter-Strike 2 patch that opened the IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub and added a Cologne 2026 Viewer Pass tied to an upgradable coin and Pick’Em Challenge rewards. It also cleaned up overtime scoreboard behavior, spectator flash intensity, and a few visual and inventory quirks.
The patch changed Trade Up Contracts too, since Souvenir-quality items can now be mixed with normal-quality items. That means any souvenir tags are stripped from the items used in the contract, and the result becomes a single normal item from the next higher quality tier.
Patch Notes
The Major hub update is the headline here, but the rest of the patch still matters for players who spend time in matches, watch demos, or trade items. Valve also tightened up a couple of UI bugs and touched the Bayonet animation.
[ MAJOR ]
- The IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub is now available. Visit the hub to purchase tournament items, play the Pick’Em Challenge and more.
- Purchase a Cologne 2026 Viewer Pass to receive an upgradable Cologne 2026 Coin. With an active pass, you can upgrade your coin and earn rewards by playing the Pick’Em Challenge. Additionally, you will show up on the Active Pass Leaderboard where you can compare your Pick’Em Challenge performance to your friends.
[ UI ]
- Fixed a case of incorrect scoreboard timeline presentation in overtime.
- Fixed weapon entities disallowing pickup from showing pick up weapon hint text.
- Increased spectator in-eye flash amount.
[ MISC ]
- Souvenir quality items can now be selected in Trade Up Contract alongside normal quality items. All Souvenir attributes will be removed from any souvenir items selected, and the result of a Trade Up Contract will be a single normal item of a quality one higher, from a collection of all of the items selected for exchange.
- Fixed a case where tire fire particles were flickering in the advanced video preview.
- Adjusted finger animation on Bayonet model.
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