CS2 Cache is Officially Live in FACEIT Season 8: Here’s How to Play

CS2 Cache is here – sort of. While Valve has yet to release its long-awaited rework of the iconic CS:GO map, you can play FMPONE’s version of it right now as part of FACEIT Season 8. Matchmaking is now live, with the eighth map entering the pool as a completely optional addition.

FACEIT Season 8 is Live With Cache: How to Play

When opening the FACEIT Season 8 client, your match search will look a little different. Now, rather than just the seven maps in the Active Duty map pool, you’ll see eight, including CS2 Cache, the version released by FMPONE (and later sold to Valve) in 2025.

Before you queue, it’s imperative that you subscribe to Cache on the Steam Workshop here. The map is over 3GB, and there is a timer to join FACEIT matches. If your internet connection is slow, it’s possible that the map will take too long to download before you join the game, resulting in a ban. That’s why you need to download it beforehand. After it’s downloaded, just make sure Cache is enabled in your map selection, and hope it doesn’t get voted out of the veto.

The good news is that all CS2 Cache matches in FACEIT Season 8 have elo enabled, so when you get your ranking in the latest season, you can grind on this legendary map. For those who don’t want to play Cache, not to worry. You can simply disable it without subscribing to any paid variant of FACEIT, like FACEIT Plus or Premium. If you are a paid subscriber, disabling Cache does not count towards your map pool minimum. Think of it as a complete optional extra.

FACEIT Season 8 also comes with a variety of new features. A soft elo reset has taken place, meaning you’ll need to play 10 placement matches to get your level to start the season. FACEIT Rating is perhaps the biggest new addition, assigning a numerical value to how your actions changed your odds of winning a match. Don’t bait for stats!

Premium players will now have access to radar breakdowns for each round, allowing them to go in-depth on their performance and improve without ever downloading a demo. FACEIT Season 8 promises to be the most significant overhaul of the platform in a while, and the addition of CS2 Cache is just the tip of the iceberg.