New CS2 update launches Premier Season 4 with Anubis changes

Daniel Morris

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Valve has officially released Premier Season 4 in the new CS2 update, bringing Anubis to the Active Duty map pool in place of Train. Anubis’ hiatus away from the pool only lasted six months, while Train’s stint in the game lasted throughout 2025, a short period that reflected its unpopularity among players.

New CS2 update launches Premier Season 4 with Anubis changes

Anubis returns, but it’s different now

So Anubis is back in the Active Duty map pool, but it’s a little bit different this time around. Valve has made some big changes to the map to help address how T-sided it was previously, with the patch notes listing the following adjustments:

  • Bridge drop moved near Mid Doors
  • Mid doors orientation reversed
  • Hole added between Connector and Back of B
  • Bombsite A crates moved up steps on to Walkway
  • Scaffolding added to pillar on Bombsite A

CS2 Anubis Changes (New CS2 Update)

These changes will go a long way to fixing Anubis’ problems, which mostly centered on how Mid could easily be controlled by the Ts. It’s the biggest change to the map ever, and we can’t wait to see what the pros do with it.

Of course, there’s new CS2 skins

It wouldn’t be a major new CS2 update without new skins, would it? In this latest patch, Valve has added two new collections to the Weekly Care Package drops: Harlequin and Achroma. Harlequin is color-focused, with a variety of skins available. Comparatively, Achroma is entirely black and white. Those building a monochrome CS2 loadout will be in heaven with this one.

New CS2 Skin Collections

There’s also big news for CS2 skin fans, as the update also added the AK-47 Aphrodite to the Armory. Grab this limited time item while it’s available!

Minor CS2 weapon meta adjustments

In terms of gameplay, Valve has made a few weapon meta adjustments in the new CS2 update. Both the MP7 and MP5-SD have been given damage increases and reduced damage falloff, while both (and the PP-Bizon) have reduced in price by $100.

New CS2 community maps

As has been standard of late, Valve has included a new set of community maps in the new CS2 update. Golden, Palacio, Agency, and Rooftop are out. Warden, Stronghold, and Alpine are in for Deathmatch, Casual, and Competitive, while Sanctum and Poseidon arrive in Wingman. Cool, if you play them.

Stronghold Map (New CS2 Update)

You can view the full patch notes for the new CS2 update below and here.

New CS2 update patch notes (January 21st, 2026)

[ PREMIER ]

  • Premier Season Four has begun

  • Added Anubis to the Active Duty Map Pool

  • Removed Train from the Active Duty Map Pool

[ COMPETITIVE ]

  • Adjusted underlying per-map competitive matchmaking rank values. Existing per-map competitive Skill Groups have been expired, and will be displayed again once the player obtains the required number of wins

[ GAMEPLAY ]

  • Minor adjustments to the MP7 and MP5-SD:

    • Slightly increased damage

    • Slightly reduced damage fall-off

    • Reduced price by $100.

  • Reduced price of the PP-Bizon by $100.

  • Jump changes:

    • Landing time is now calculated with subtick precision

    • Jumping and landing no longer affect stamina. The landing speed penalty is now a simple function of landing time

    • Any jump press within sv_bhop_time_window centered on the landing time that hasn’t been penalized by sv_jump_spam_penalty_time will be treated as a successful bunnyhop

    • Legacy jump behavior can be restored on private servers with sv_legacy_jump

  • Map Guides can now be loaded in online games of casual and retakes (via the ESC menu)

[ SOUND ] 

  • Reduced audio output latency

  • Higher fidelity knife draw and inspect sounds

  • Weapon, knife and utility draw sounds no longer overlap when switching quickly between them

  • Knife impact sounds are now unique based on primary fire or alt fire swings as well as front and rear attacks. This reflects the different damage amounts dealt with each attack 

  • Ambient sounds no longer restart from the beginning when transitioning between zones

[ WEEKLY CARE PACKAGE ]

  • Added two all-new weapon collections to the Weekly Care Package drop list: Harlequin, Achroma

  • Removed four weapon collections from the Weekly Care Package drop list: Safehouse, Dust 2, 2018 Nuke Collection, and the 2018 Inferno Collection

[ ARMORY ]

  • Added a new Limited Edition Item: the AK47 | Aphrodite

[ MISC ]

  • Increased material fidelity on some of the base guns:

    • Ak47

    • Aug

    • AWP

    • Berettas

    • Deagle

    • Galil

    • Mac-10

    • MP7

    • P250

    • Tec9

    • USP-S

    • Bizon

    • Cz75a

    • Famas

    • MP9

  • Changed voice status behavior to always show a mic for local player if mic is open 

  • Fixed a bug related to Deathcam intersection

  • Fixed some cases where the player would collide with internal edges while sliding along a ramp in surf mode

  • Improved the resolution of the PVS for some static level geometry

  • Fixed some small interpenetrations in Butterfly Knife animations

  • Fixed a case where blood decals weren’t appearing

[ MAP SCRIPTING ]

  • Fixed a bug where activator was sometimes incorrect for func_door outputs OnOpen, OnFullyOpen, OnClose, and OnFullyClosed

    • Added BaseModelEntity.GetModelName

    • Added BaseModelEntity.GetModelScale

    • Added BaseModelEntity.GetColor

    • Added BaseModelEntity.IsGlowing

[ MAPS ]

  • Removed community maps: Golden, Palacio, Agency, and Rooftop from all game modes

  • Added community maps Warden, Stronghold, and Alpine to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes

  • Added community maps Sanctum and Poseidon to Wingman mode

Anubis

  • Bridge drop moved near Mid Doors

  • Mid doors orientation reversed

  • Hole added between Connector and Back of B

  • Bombsite A crates moved up steps on to Walkway

  • Scaffolding added to pillar on Bombsite A

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Daniel Morris

Daniel Morris

Counter-Strike Content Lead
Daniel is a CS2 esports specialist, and now channels that expertise to discuss the game online. Despite his knowledge of Counter-Strike, he wasn’t quite good enough to go pro himself.
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