Valve adds four community maps and a wave of cosmetics in latest CS2 update

Valve has shipped a fresh Counter-Strike 2 patch that expands the map pool with four community creations, rotates out several older picks, and folds in a sizable Armory refresh alongside quality-of-life tweaks for gameplay and spectating. Palacio and Golden join Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch, while Rooftop and Transit slot into Wingman; at the same time, Jura, Grail, Dogtown, and Brewery exit official matchmaking queues. 

What changed in the map pool

• Added to Competitive/Casual/DM: Palacio and Golden

• Added to Wingman: Rooftop and Transit

• Removed from all modes: Jura, Grail, Dogtown, Brewery

Valve’s rotation effectively replaces the community selections that were first promoted in the spring rotation (when Jura, Grail and Brewery were introduced alongside Dogtown) with a new quartet, keeping the community slot lively while trimming modes that had become crowded. 

In follow-up maintenance, Valve rolled out small fixes to the newly added maps and exposed a couple of map-making tools (lattice and bend deformers) to Workshop creators, underscoring that these additions are meant to keep evolving rather than arrive as one-off drops. 

Armory: new charms and stickers, old lines retired

The headline cosmetic change is a substantial Armory refresh. Valve added two charm lines—Missing Link (23 charms from community artists) and Dr. Boom (22 charms)—plus two sticker collections: the 2025 Community Stickers set (29 pieces) and Sugarface 2 (9 pieces). Simultaneously, the Gallery Case, Graphic Collection, and Character Craft stickers were pulled from the Armory. The numbers and collection names were included directly in Valve’s release notes and summarized by HLTV. 

Gameplay and UX tweaks

The patch also brings a handful of practical changes:

• Sniper scopes: scopes now display an inaccuracy representation, and Valve fixed an incorrect pixel offset at higher scope thickness values. A subsequent micro-patch exposed options for dot scale and sniper scope thickness and adjusted the AUG/SG553 scope dots.

• Scoreboard & Deathmatch: scoreboard deaths now increment on C4 detonation; Zeus kill-streak bonuses are limited in Deathmatch.

• Spectating: smoother camera path transitions between players on supported maps; spectated players’ loadouts auto-close after a match and now display glove wear and pattern.

• Stability & visuals: fixes for missing bullet-impact effects and minor skinning adjustments (MAC-10, R8). Workshop tools gained new deformers to help mappers iterate quicker.

Why it matters

Valve’s community-map cadence continues a pattern we saw earlier this year when the studio mixed in Workshop favorites, then pruned them back months later. Jura, Grail and Brewery debuted in May as part of a broader content push that also included weekly missions; with this week’s patch they make way for a fresh group, keeping the casual and community map groups feeling new while Competitive gains two more curated options in Palacio and Golden. 

Beyond variety, the change has competitive implications: adding Palacio and Golden to Competitive increases the likelihood they’ll see structured play in pug systems and third-party hubs, which historically accelerates balance feedback and mapping polish. The spectator updates also target broadcast and demo-watching usability—shortest-path camera transitions and clearer loadout info should make observing late-round clutches and post-match reviews cleaner for fans and analysts alike. 

The fine print & what’s next

Valve followed the main deployment with a small October 2 patch that specifically mentions Palacio, Rooftop and Golden being synced to their latest Workshop versions, scope-dot adjustments, and additional camera-transition polish—an expected stabilization wave after any content drop. If that cadence holds, expect more micro-patches as players stress-test the new maps over the coming days. 

For the official wording, Valve’s “Community Maps, Charms, and More” post lays out the high-level intent and placement of each map across the queues; independent round-ups by esports outlets have mirrored those details. 

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Summary:

• Palacio & Golden → Competitive/Casual/DM

• Rooftop & Transit → Wingman

• Jura, Grail, Dogtown, Brewery → removed from matchmaking

• New Armory content: 45 charms (two collections) and 38 stickers (two collections); several sticker lines retired

• QoL: improved sniper scopes, spectator camera, scoreboard behavior, and Workshop toolset; follow-up patch refined scopes and map builds.