Valve adds Inferno to CS2, implements MR12

After a couple of weeks of silence, Valve added a completely overhauled Inferno to Counter-Strike 2. In the update Valve also unveiled a reworked Premier Matchmaking with leaderboards classified by regions. Once a player makes it to the top 1000 of these leaderboards, a permanent name must be chosen which will be approved by a moderation team and will remain locked for the rest of the season, making talent scouting a lot easier.

Ranking system has undergone significant changes too- with every map now holding its own rank. For example, one can be Global Elite on Mirage and Silver Elite on Ancient, depending on their performance across the maps. Premier Matchmaking will now unlock and assign a quantifiable skill value known as "CS Rating" to players once they win 10 matches in Premier Mode. This CS Rating will be used to position players on leaderboards.

Matchmaking has received a significant structural change, moving to a maximum of 24 rounds with one 6-round overtime in case of a tie. The limited test is now open to a wider array of players. Anyone with a prime account and active competitive rank will receive a CS2LT invite.

Here are Valve's release notes for the update:

PREMIER

• Added Premier mode

• Added a visible CS Rating and CS2 Leaderboards. For more information visit the CS2 Leaderboard FAQ

• Added CSTV for spectating Premier matches

SOUND

• Fixed a case where grenade throw sounds would play twice

• Added music preview button to music volume sliders

• Various adjustments to sound effects

WORKSHOP TOOLS

• Added Paint Kit enhancements to CS2 Item Editor. Paint Kit finishes can now support:

• Enabling custom normal maps and AO for all styles

• Optional pearlescent mask

• Optional standard PBR roughness texture

• Custom Paint-By-Numbers masks (enabling Paint-By-Number masks for Spray-Paint style)

MAPS

• Added Inferno to all available game modes

• Various bug fixes and tweaks for all shipped maps

MISC

• Fixed a bug with hostage rescue prediction

• Enabled first-person shadow for carried hostages

• Fixed water effects showing in the wrong place when a bullet hit the water after penetration

• Various fixes for weapon finishes

• Replaced "Secondary Fire Hold" setting with "Zoom Button Hold"

• Fixed "Disable all voice comms" button in scoreboard

• "Temporarily Disable Incoming Chat" now mutes voice chat

• Various CS:GO settings will be imported when launching the CS2 Limited Test

• Fixed a case of inconsistent crouching with Duck Mode: Toggle enabled

• Updated the invulnerability visual effect

• Adjusted 'sv_infinite_ammo 2' grenade behavior to match CS:GO

• Desert Eagle third-person muzzle flash smoke now dissipates faster

• Continued iterating on smoke shape

• Adjusted Competitive mode match length to 12-round halves

CS:GO

• Recent ranked matches in "Your Matches" menu will now show Competitive, Wingman, and Premier matches

GAME AUTHENTICATION CODES

• Access to match history granted to third-party websites will now cover Competitive, Wingman, and Premier matches

• GetNextMatchSharingCode API used by third-party websites must now supply a match sharing code that is no more than 1 month old to obtain the -next match sharing code.