Any game, including our beloved CS:GO, needs regular updates, new content, and occurring bug fixes to improve the gameplay. Without updates, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive would be pretty much the same as it was when Valve released the game in 2013. And yes, there would be no skins!
In this article, we will talk about some of the updates players received throughout this year, including the latest CS:GO update, and figure out which ones impacted the game the most.
In article you will find:
What are CS:GO Updates & How Do They Work?
With CS:GO updates, Valve tries to enhance the players’ experience. The most common use for patches is to fix different bugs and exploits. Simply put, CS:GO updates bring the new stuff into the game and fix the old stuff. This includes balance changes, gameplay fixes, map rotation, etc.
Developers keep track of all the updates they release. You can find the CS:GO update log, including both the oldest and the latest CS:GO update on the game’s official website.
To play the game, you need to make sure you have the CS:GO’s newest update installed on your device, whether it is a PC or a Steam Deck. Otherwise, you will not be able to simply run it. To see if you have CS:GO’s new patch that needs to be installed, check your Steam app.
Frequency of CS:GO Updates in a Year
In 2022, Valve released thirty-one major and minor CS:GO patches. Developers pushed the first CS:GO 2022 update at the beginning of the year on January 20, and the CS:GO’s latest update on December 16.
Latest CS:GO Patch Notes in 2022
We will go over some of the CS:GO’s latest patch notes of this year in chronological order and highlight the most important changes.
Release Notes for 1/20/2022
On January 20, Valve released the first CS:GO 2022 update. They added the long-awaited Dreams & Nightmares case that featured seventeen community-made weapon finishes, including AK-47 | Nightwish, MP7 | Starlight, and other skins. To gather skins for this case, Valve announced a contest, and each winning skin author received $100,000. The whole prize pool of the Dreams & Nightmares contests finalized into $1.7 million.
Here are all the skins from the Dreams & Nightmares case:
- AK-47 | Nightwish
- MP9 | Starlight Protector
- Dual Berettas | Melondrama
- MP7 | Abyssal Apparition
- FAMAS | Rapid Eye Movement
- M4A1-S | Night Terror
- USP-S | Ticket to Hell
- PP-Bizon | Space Cat
- G3SG1 | Dream Glade
- XM1014 | Zombie Offensive
- MAC-10 | Ensnared
- Five-SeveN | Scrawl
- MP5-SD | Necro Jr.
- Sawed-Off | Spirit Board
- P2000 | Lifted Spirits
- SCAR-20 | Poultrygeist
- MAG-7 | Foresight.
Note: Check out the Dreams & Nightmares case on Hellcase.
Alongside the Dreams & Nightmares case, this update also featured changes to the Insertion 2 map, including a removed boost spot and fixed graphical issues.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/01/36867/
[ THE DREAMS & NIGHTMARES CASE ]
– Introducing the Dreams & Nightmares Case featuring the winning 17 community-designed weapon finishes.
[ MISC ]
– Updated colors of Operation Riptide Diamond Coin model.
[ MAPS ]
Insertion 2
– Replaced the weird tree boost spot next to the orange building (next to the dentist) with an easier more exposed boost.
– Moved to to spawn points at House around a bit and turned off collision on the mailboxes there, to prevent team spawn blocking.
– Cleaned up mid a bit by removing a fence and a blue barrel.
– Blocked off a sightline from on top of the meat/egg shelf into the backroom toilet in Market.
– Tweaked the size of the trigger for the train station automated door so it’s possible to go sneak past it through the glass windows.
– Fixed so the auto shotgun can break the cubicles in the office.
– Minor graphical issues fixed.
Release Notes for 2/21/2022
Operation Riptide ended in the second half of February 2022. It featured new maps, a weekly mission system, and an upgradable mission coin.
The first map rotation of the year occurred with this update. Developers removed six maps from the map pool and replaced them with the same amount of maps for all the game modes.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/02/37206/
[OPERATION RIPTIDE]
– Operation Riptide has come to an end. Players who have unredeemed operation stars will have until March 27th to claim their operation rewards.
– All game modes introduced during Operation Riptide remain available.
[MAPS]
– Basalt, Insertion II, Ravine, Extraction, and County have been removed from their respective map pools
– Iris and Climb have been added to official matchmaking in Casual, Competitive, and Deathmatch game modes.
– Crete and Hive have been added to official matchmaking in Wingman game mode.
– Vineyard and Ember have been added to official matchmaking in Danger Zone game mode.
Release Notes for 5/15/2022
At Antwerp Major, G2 player m0nesy used a one-way smoke exploit in the game against Imperial. After the match Brazilian CS:GO player pigo discovered the bug that Ilya Osypov used to get a huge upper hand to fight the middle push.
WTF @CSGO pls fix this bug pic.twitter.com/cMB9hr9jBL
— João Vitor Delfino (@pigofps) May 15, 2022
The clip went viral, and Valve managed to fix the smoke bug shortly after this happened.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/05/38062/
[GAMEPLAY]
– Fixed a recently reported smoke bug.
Release Notes for 6/15/2022
In this June update, developers nerfed M4A1-S. The magazine capacity of the assault rifle was reduced by five bullets, making it twenty. The CS:GO community, however, did not believe that it could heavily alter the balance of the game.
Valve also shipped changes to Ancient, Vertigo, and three other maps.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/06/38456/
[GAMEPLAY]
– Reduced the M4A1-S magazine size to 20 bullets, with 80 in reserve.
[MAPS]
Ancient:
-Remove cratestack outside of the “cave” location
-Fixed pixelgap from inside “cave” towards T mid
-Fixed ground clipping bugs in mid causing players to go slightly airborne
-Smoothed out ground outside of “cave” down towards B ramp
-Blocked archeological dig inside of “cave”
-Smoothed out corners in “donut” room
-Added additional cover near a pillar on B
-Blocked one sidepath exit towards A site, widened remaining exit
-Fixed some visual glitches when looking out towards mid from the “donut” room
-Reduced wallbang damage through scaffolding at B site
-Boosted light emitted from candles/lanterns
Inferno:
-Increased bomb explosion damage from 500 to 620
Vertigo
-Another attempt at fixing molly through floor bug in mid
-Removed a position by the ramp corner
Cache:
-Fixed an exploit. (Thanks El_Exodus!)
Vineyard
-Performance and stability improvements
-Ivy now sways in the wind
-Fixed displacement physics issues
Release Notes for 7/1/2022
On July 1, 2020, developers released an update with the Recoil Case included. This case consisted of seventeen weapon finishes that Valve picked from the Steam Workshop submissions.
List of the Recoil case skins:
- USP-S | Printstream
- AWP | Chromatic Aberration
- AK-47 | Ice Coaled
- Sawed-Off | Kiss♥Love
- P250 | Visions
- R8 Revolver | Crazy 8
- Dual Berettas | Flora Carnivora
- SG 553 | Dragon Tech
- M249 | Downtown
- P90 | Vent Rush
- M4A4 | Poly Mag
- Glock-18 | Winterized
- FAMAS | Meow 36
- Galil AR | Destroyer
- Negev | Drop Me
- MAC-10 | Monkeyflage
- UMP-45 | Roadblock.
Check out the Recoil case on Hellcase.
Apart from adding the Recoil case, developers also made some changes to the map Ember.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/07/38844/
[ THE RECOIL CASE ]
– Introducing the Recoil Case, featuring 17 community-designed weapon finishes.
[ MAPS ]
Ember
– Construction work has progressed.
– Added rock path near Observatory.
– Added rock tunnel near Observatory.
– Added some rocks in the water near Helipad.
– Minor bug fixes.
[ CUSTOM GAME TYPE ]
– Added support to map-placed weapons in custom maps loaded with game_type 3.
– Added support for community dedicated servers to execute gamemode_custom_server.cfg when running custom maps with game_type 3.
Release Notes for 8/16/2022
Hurrah, CS:GO turned ten years old this summer! To celebrate such an occasion, Valve prepared festivities for the CS:GO latest update at that moment. It included a special sticker capsule, the very first one to introduce stickers that change appearance when viewed from different angles.
We also got new and returning maps, a coin, and in-game drops. Have you received your 10 Year Birthday Coin?
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/08/39215/
[10 Year Birthday]
CS:GO is celebrating its 10th birthday with:
– The 10 Year Birthday Sticker Capsule
– Maps (see below)
– The 10 Year Birthday Coin
— Get your Birthday Coin by earning enough XP for your first in-game drop of the week.
[MISC]
– Added an “Inspect Items” option to browse contents of containers.
[MAPS]
– Anubis, Breach, and Tuscan have been added to official matchmaking in Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch game modes.
– Primetime and Blagai have been added to official matchmaking in Wingman game mode.
– Climb, Crete, Hive, and Iris have been removed from official matchmaking.
Release Notes for 8/23/2022
Two days after CS:GO’s 10th Birthday, developers spoiled us with another update. Players received six new music kits in the Initiators Music Kit Box, and StatTrak™ versions of them.
Users with no Prime Account Status now could only invite players from their Steam friends list to a party, and see limited information on non-friends profiles. Also, Valve renamed the map Primetime to Cascade, boosted performance on it, and limited visual bugs. Maps Blagai and Breach also got improvements.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/08/39352/
[ MUSIC KITS ]
– Added the Initiators Music Kit Box and the StatTrak™ Initiators Music Kit Box, featuring 6 new music kits:
— 3kliksphilip, Heading for the Source
— Humanity’s Last Breath, Void
— Juelz, Shooters
— Knock2, dashstar*
— Meechy Darko, Gothic Luxury
— Sullivan King, Lock Me Up
[ MISC ]
– Added a message on the main menu for players whose inventory is reaching full capacity.
– Awarded “10-Year Birthday Coin” items to players whose inventory was at full capacity and who did not receive a drop during the birthday week.
– Users without Prime Account Status can only invite Steam friends to a party lobby.
– Users without Prime Account Status see a limited profile view when inspecting non-friend accounts.
– Blocked player avatars will now display one of a set of premade custom avatars instead of a no-avatar-outline.
– Fixed Steam Controller input overlay mismatch during warmup.
[ MAPS ]
Blagai
-Fixed bot navigation
-Added position names in the upper left corner
-Fixed various visual bugs
-Improved optimization a bit
-Moved the map away from the zero coordinates
-Reworked model of the fence, canopy, and steps
-Various minor visual improvements
-Improved clipping throughout the map
Thanks Joaokaka1998, Cheburek
Primetime -> Cascade
– Name changed from Primetime to Cascade.
– Updated cave collision model.
– Improved clipping
– Reduced detail to help boost performance and limit visual bugs
– All particles, sprites, and glows have been removed
– Lighting has been altered
Breach
– Fixed various bomb stuck spots and clipping issues (thanks Joaokaka1998, LATE and Kerluck!)
– Made the blinds at A non-see-through
– Added missing clipping to T spawn lamps
– Various small visual bug fixes
Release Notes for 11/18/2022
Among all the CS:GO 2022 updates , this one got probably the most hype. That fact doesn’t seem shocking at all, as Dust 2, the third most popular map among the CS:GO players, got removed from the Active Duty Pool and replaced by Anubis.
At first, Valve teased us with an Anubis-related tweet on their official Twitter account. It led to players being confused and theorizing about the meaning of the publication.
Quick, someone reply with a good "Anubis" pun.
— CS:GO (@CSGO) November 18, 2022
Two hours later, developers announced a major update. Dust 2 was no longer a part of the Active Duty Pool, got switched to Anubis. While the map is still playable in Casual, Deathmatch, and Competitive modes, you will not see Dust 2 used in any official matches until it gets added back.
Today we're adding Anubis to the Active Duty map pool. Dust2 has been removed. We're also making adjustments to the M4A1-S and the AWP: https://t.co/SDjg8uaXs2 pic.twitter.com/1h6YMkw0Mb
— CS:GO (@CSGO) November 18, 2022
Anubis is a community-created bomb-defusal map that appeared in the game for the first time in April, 2020. Valve deleted it permanently in 2021, but they brought it back this summer. Check out our full guide for Anubis in our blog.
Apart from the maps, two weapons have also undergone some nerfs. AWP had its magazine capacity reduced from ten to five bullets, and the M4A1-S range modifier was reduced from 0.99 to 0.94, making the assault rifle less accurate.
What’s new?
https://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/2022/11/40472/
[ MAPS ]
– Anubis has been added to Active Duty.
– Dust II has been removed from Active Duty.
[ GAMEPLAY ]
– AWP magazine size reduced from 10 bullets to 5.
– Reduced the M4A1-S range modifier from 0.99 to 0.94.
To Wrap Up!
This concludes our digest of the most significant CS:GO’s latest patch notes. This year, we got two new weapon cases with community-made skins, new maps, and changes in weapon balance. We also said goodbye to Dust 2, as the map was removed from the Active Duty pool for the first time ever in the history of CS:GO. Check out our blog to learn about CS:GO skins, guides, and esports news.
CSGO 2022 Updates FAQs
Yes, CS:GO got more than five hundred updates since its release in 2013, thirty-one of them were released in 2022. These updates include map rotation, bug fixing, adding cosmetic items, etc.
Valve developers released the last CS:GO update on December 16th, 2022. Currently, CS:GO runs on patch 1.38.5.0 (version 1539). Build ID: 10165983.