2023-09-27 — present

CS2 Meta History

Counter-Strike 2 has fielded 6 Active Duty pools since it launched on 2023-09-27 — each one a season with its own rotation, its own Tier 1 events and its own measured meta. This archive writes down every one of them, alongside the 198 updates Valve shipped across them — one every 5.4 days, 75% of them Tuesday through Thursday, and not once on a weekend.

current seasonSeason 5

2026-07-08 – present51 days so far, through 2026-08-28

+Cache −Overpass

52.4% CT · 196 maps (thin)

active duty pool

Each tile shows that map's CT share across this season alone.

3 Tier 1 events played on this pool so far, and 9 updates shipped while it has held. Read this season in full, or every season before it.

where the sides stand
+2.6
points to CT
← CTevenT →
February 2024
50.0% CT — an even split
August 2026
52.6% CT — 2.6pts CT-leaning

Across every Active Duty map, between those two months, measured over Tier 1 events — HLTV Majors and international LAN events with a prize pool between $600,000 and $2,000,000. Follow it month by month, or read it one Active Duty rotation at a time.

release cadence

198
updates
32
major
5.4
days between
5.4
days between, 12mo
2026-08-24
latest update

release day

recent updatesWhat Valve has shipped lately

Map Scripting Gains Custom HUD Layouts, a Scripted Player Camera and Bomb-Phase Events

This update is entirely Map Scripting. Scripted maps can now draw their own UI through custom_hud_layout entities — Panel, Label, Image and Button types styled with CSS, with no events or client-side scripting — and a new cs_player_camera entity controls a player's view without moving their pawn. The API adds events for the start and abort of bomb plants and defuses, plant timing and abort methods on the C4, entity move-type control and several CSPlayerPawn helpers, and deprecates planter and defuser on the bomb events. Script errors and unhandled promise rejections now reach the console.

  • scripting 40

Cache Loses an Outside A Boost, and Map Scripting Learns About Grenades and the Bomb

Cache gets fixes for gaps, collision and flickering assets and loses a boost spot in Outside A, while Shelter is updated to its latest Community Workshop version. A general fix stops grenades being thrown through level geometry. The rest is Map Scripting: new grenade projectile and planted-C4 classes with getters for thrower, planter, defuser and plant and defuse timings, new events for weapon pickups and bomb explosions, a TracePlayer helper and spawnable grenade projectiles. bounces is deprecated on OnGrenadeBounce, and RegisterCheatCommand now survives a script reload.

  • scripting 26
  • map 5
  • utility 1

Ranked Series Stickers Arrive Alongside a VACnet Evasion Fix

The Ranked Series stickers went on sale, with half of the royalties shared with players, teams and the tournament organizer. Valve also closed a hole that let malicious players avoid being processed by VACnet, and fixed Collection Catalog XP failing to claim for The Dead Hand Collection. Boulder, Fachwerk and Shelter picked up their latest Workshop revisions.

  • map 3
  • content 2
  • misc 2
  • scripting 1

The Bomb Now Interacts With Smokes and Fire

The C4 explosion now interacts with smoke grenade clouds and molotov fire, and the bomb's damage health preview appears once the bomb becomes audible rather than earlier. Fachwerk, Boulder and Debris took their latest Workshop revisions. Steam China builds gained a Workshop maps section and a Community Servers shortcut in the Play menu.

  • map 3
  • ui 2
  • weapon 1
  • utility 1

→ the full update history

browseThe rest of the archive

pro map metaHow CT- or T-sided each map has been across Tier 1 events — HLTV Majors and international LAN events with a prize pool between $600,000 and $2,000,000, and how often each is picked versus banned.mapsEvery map Valve ships, with its change history, its time in the Active Duty pool, and its professional-play numbers.
weaponsEvery weapon Valve ships, with its complete buff and nerf history since launch.