CS2 release notes (May 23): Gameplay changes, map updates, bug fixes, and more

Valve has dropped the CS2 release notes for May 23, 2024, and it is a significant update. The developers at Valve have made multiple quality-of-life changes in the game to attract more players. They have also implemented multiple UI changes. One of the most interesting tweaks they have made is to a key aspect of the game: the chickens, which now have increased mobility and fresh animations.

That's not all, as Valve has also made multiple changes to the maps in Counter-Strike 2. This article lists all the changes made by the CS2 release notes of May 23.

---

CS2 release notes for May 23

Here are the official CS2 release notes for May 23:

Gameplay

• The height of the 'pillar' of flame for both Molotov and Incendiary grenades now decreases over time
• Reduced the terrorist team award when the bomb was planted but defused from $800 to $600, to decrease the impact of the first round on subsequent rounds
• Reduced the price of the M4A4 from $3100 to $3000
• Minor adjustments to first-person camera movement
• Added explicit "switchhandsleft" and "switchhandsright" console commands
• Deathmatch bonus weapons are now the same for all players regardless of loadout

Incendiary grenade

• Adjusted the explosion and flame visual treatment
• Reduced duration
• Reduced area covered by spreading flames
• Reduced price from $600 to $500

Rentals

• When players open a Kilowatt case with a key, they will have the option to rent the entire Kilowatt collection (i.e., every weapon in the case, excluding the rare special item) for a week instead of receiving an item from the collection
• Equipped rented weapons will be replaced with the stock version of the weapon when the rental period expires
• Rented weapons cannot be modified (e.g., via stickers or name tags), traded, or sold on the Steam Community Market

HUD

• Fixed a bug where the MVP player name displayed incorrectly during bot takeover
• Fixed a bug where the Refund All button in the Buy Menu would only refund a single flashbang grenade
• Fixed a bug where the ESC menu scoreboard during the end-of-match didn't match the TAB scoreboard
• Fixed a bug where the Loss Bonus scoreboard tooltip would get stuck on-screen after closing the scoreboard
• Blocking stranger Steam avatars will now block other user-generated content such as name tags and sticker placements

Chickens

• Chickens have a few new animations
• Chickens can now walk up hills
• Chickens can now turn right while walking

UI

• Various performance improvements to the Warehouse main menu and item inspect background scenery

Demos

• The demo playback timeline now shows indicators for kill and death events
• Demo playback can be toggled into "highlight mode" which will show only kills and deaths for the active player
• Various minor demo playback UI changes
• Fixed a demo playback crash

---

Map changes in CS2 release notes for May 23

The developers also made multiple changes in the maps and it was covered in the CS2 release notes. The changes they made were:

Vertigo

• Added catwalk by bombsite A, connecting to the back of A
• Removed connector between the back of A and elevators
• Opened up the passage between elevators and scaffolding
• Slightly tweaked size of bombsite A
• Tweaked spawn timings slightly
• Changed Wingman layout to feature bombsite A changes

Baggage

• Fixed movement hitch on the lower conveyor
• Lowered height of central conveyor tray to help open sniper view

Office

• Fixed a case where a player could shoot through multiple walls

Mirage

• Fixed bad collisions on certain props
• Fixed some sticky collisions around windows in the palace

---

This is everything that came with the CS2 release notes for May 23. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for more news related to the game.