Today Valve dropped a new Counter-Strike 2 update with 17 skins. The CS.MONEY Blog is here to tell and show you what the developers added to the game overnight.
Skins make the game brighter! Get the most out of Counter-Strike — refresh your inventory with CS.MONEY!
New sounds, scripts, and sub-tick improvements
Before we get to the main part, let’s quickly look at the changes that aren’t directly about the new collection but still matter.
First, the devs updated grenade sounds — now every grenade has its own sound for different animations. Second, the sub-tick system got better. According to Valve, shooting will now feel more consistent. Third, script support for map creator has been added, which means we’ll get more interesting community maps in the future.
Finally, you can now check out your teammate’s inventory during the game and admire their skins (and they can admire yours).
A new way to get skins in CS2
With the new collection, Valve is also testing a new way for players to get skins. The Genesis Collection is available through something called a Terminal. You might get it in your weekly drop (but the exact drop chance isn’t known yet).
When you open the Terminal, a skin trader makes you an offer: they show you one skin with its float and price. If you don’t like it, you can refuse, and the trader will give you another option. In total, you can get five offers. If you reject them all, the conversation ends. As a consolation, you might get a bit of XP for your account.
If you accept, you pay the shown price and receive the skin with a first-owner certificate — a little detail that doesn’t affect much, but it’s nice to have. You can sell the skin later.
Important: you can also sell the Terminal itself on the Steam Market or trade it with other players. If you don’t like the collection, you can always sell the Terminal. In that sense, it works a lot like a case.
The Genesis Collection
Now for the sweetest part: the new skins. The Genesis Collection isn’t much different from most other collections: two red, three pink, five purple, and seven blue skins — 17 total. The main difference is that through the Terminal, you can’t get gold drops, so no new knives or gloves.
The red skins are AK-47 The Oligarkh and M4A4 Full Throttle. The M4A4 feels inspired by Ken Block: neon Monster Energy green, gray-black patterns, and made-up logos. The AK-47 The Oligarkh looks fancy and rich, but many people say it feels more like Valorant. It loses some of the classic AK vibe, but still looks unique compared to other CS skins.
The pink skins are AWP Ice Coaled, Glock-18 Mirror Mosaic, and MP7 Smoking Kills. Ice Coaled looks about the same as it does on the AK-47, where it’s one of the best cheap skins. Mirror Mosaic makes the Glock look like stained glass, and the lighting in-game makes it even cooler. MP7 Smoking Kills is perfect for fans of Neo-Noir or Temukau. The green-and-purple color scheme is unusual, but the artwork of the girl on the skin is really well done.
The purple skins are UMP-45 Continuum, MAC-10 Cat Fight, Dual Berettas Angel Eyes, M4A1-S Liquidation, and Nova Ocular. The Cat Fight deserves a mention: cats rule the internet, and this skin is super expressive with wild colors.
Finally, the blue skins: MP5-SD Focus, MAG-7 MAGnitude, P250 Bullfrog, MP9 Broken Record, P2000 Red Wing, AUG Trigger Discipline, and SCAR-20 Caged. As usual for blues, they’re the least flashy in the Genesis Collection, but still have cool ideas. For example, Trigger Discipline shares a design with the Desert Eagle but has a totally different color scheme. And Broken Record is perfect for music lovers and vinyl fans — it has that cozy retro vibe.
With this update, CS2 got a brand-new feature. Whether it becomes popular or not, only time will tell. But we’re sure some players will love this new way to get skins.
