CS2 announces huge changes to case openings for some players

CS2 has announced that players in Germany will no longer be able to open cases using the traditional key method from March 16th. After this date, players will need to open items via the CS X-ray Scanner, which was previously introduced in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to help Valve traverse lootbox laws in France.

From March 16th, players in Germany must claim a “one-time exclusive non-tradable ‘Genuine P250 | X-ray’” before they’re able to reveal items in containers.

Beginning March 16th, players in Germany will have an "X-Ray Scanner" tab in their Inventory.

For those players, containers can only be opened via X-ray Scanner. The X-Ray Scanner will come preloaded with a one-time exclusive non-tradable "Genuine P250 | X-ray", which must be…

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) March 6, 2026

After a CS2 case has been scanned, players can see the item inside but are not required to purchase it. However, players will be unable to scan any more cases using the CS X-ray Scanner until they have purchased the previous item.

Is this the beginning of the end for CS cases?

There have long been rumors that Valve is looking to move away from CS2 cases, but this has not been substantiated. A recent lawsuit in New York targeting cases brought the spotlight onto Valve’s microtransactions, and the effect they can have on users.

With tightening rules in some regions regarding randomized loot mechanics, the CS X-ray Scanner was always going to appear in other regions. It would not be surprising if this mechanic becomes commonplace in other locations in the future.

For more information on the CS2 X-ray Scanner, Valve’s official FAQs can be found here.