Valve has rolled out a major Counter-Strike 2 update that changes how the C4 explosion works on every official defusal map. The patch also kicks off Premier Season 5 and swaps one map in the Active Duty pool for another.
New C4 Shockwave Explosion Explained
The old instant explosion is gone. In its place, Valve added a shockwave that starts at the plant spot and spreads outward over time.
Damage now follows precomputed simulation values that are baked directly into each compiled map. This means the blast reacts differently depending on the map’s layout.
Walls and corners now affect the shockwave. Players will also see their health bar flash before the explosion hits, giving them a preview of how much damage they are about to take.
Alongside the bomb rework, Valve launched Premier Season 5. Cache has entered the Active Duty map pool, while Overpass has been removed.
Valve reduced the performance cost of showing the scoreboard. Previously, opening it could nearly cut a player’s frame rate in half.
The game’s engine code was also updated to the latest version of Source 2. Other fixes include a case where material blending effects disappeared at close range, such as the dirt texture on the barrels in Inferno’s Banana area. Sticker rotation precision was increased to allow half-degree adjustments on the application screen.
A bug where picking up dropped weapons through the Buy Menu would fail to complete has also been fixed.
To find out all the changes, please check out the patch notes below:
The highly anticipated Counter-Strike 2 Premier Season 5 is now live, and players have already started the grind to reach the top ranks and secure themselves the collectible medal for the new season.
The brand-new CS2 Premier Season 5 has introduced a ton of exciting new changes to the competitive shooter, including a revamp of the bomb explosion, a fresh map pool for Premier, several new community-made maps, and a series of new additions to the Armory.
Without further ado, let’s check out everything you need to know about the CS2 Premier Season 5 and all its changes.
One of the biggest highlights of the CS2 Premier Season 5 is the complete rework of the bomb damage radius. Moving forward, when the C4 explodes, a wave of destruction will flow from the bombsite throughout the map. The shockwave from the bomb explosion dissipates around corners and doesn’t go through walls.
As a quality-of-life improvement, players can now check their health bars to anticipate the amount of damage they’ll take from the bomb explosion.
Notably, players take a minimum of 1 HP damage regardless of how far away they are from the C4 explosion.
CS2 Premier Season 5 Map Changes
The map pool for the Premier mode is seeing a change with the CS2 Season 5 update.
As already confirmed by Valve a few weeks earlier, Overpass is leaving the Premier map rotation while Cache makes its entrance. This marks the first time Cache is added to the active map pool since the release of CS2 in 2023.
Season Four of Premier ends on July 6th.
You must have 25 Season Four Premier wins and a visible CSR when the Season concludes to earn your Premier Season Four medal.
Apart from the Premier mode, CS2 is also receiving five brand-new community-made maps in Casual, Competitive, and other game modes.
The new CS2 update will see Boulder, Fachwerk, and Shelter being added to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes, while Debris and El Dorado will be playable in Wingman.
Armory Changes
The much-anticipated Armory update that the devs have been teasing for the past two months is now live, bidding farewell to four skin and sticker collections while welcoming in some new ones.
The CS2 Season 5 update brings in the following new collections to the Armory:
Spy Tech Collection
Arabesque Collection
Auto Racing Stickers
Fruits and Veggies Stickers
All the collections are now available to claim from the Armory in-game.
Alongside the aforementioned changes, CS2 Premier Season 5 also brings a rank reset to the shooter. Players will have to win ten calibration games to see their new CS rating.
The new Premier Season is officially here, with the last update as Cache is now officially part of the map pool, leading to the exit of the highly popular Overpass. Along with the changes in the Active Duty Map Pool, the update brings a plethora of changes, including C4 explosion mechanics with map-specific damage calculations, making it more consistent across maps.
The update further addresses known bugs such as the one that has been preventing players from picking up dropped weapons from the Buy Menu. The highly successful CS2 Armory also gets two new weapons and two new sticker collections that fans would definitely want a piece of.
The Counter-Strike 2 offseason is in full swing, and the latest wave of roster moves has made it clear that several organizations are preparing for the second half of the 2026 competitive season. With major tournaments on the horizon, teams are wasting no time in reshaping their lineups. They are in search of better results.
CS2 Rostermania Heats Up
One of the biggest stories this week is Liquid’s decision to overhaul its AWP position. The organization has officially moved Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak to the bench while signing 17-year-old Bulgarian sniper Georgi “Jorko” Mitev as his replacement. This move signals Liquid’s willingness to invest in young talent. It comes just ahead of the upcoming tournament circuit.
Another notable move comes from NRG, which has strengthened its roster by signing hallzerk and welcoming back Jeorge. The additions are expected to bring more firepower and experience. As a result, the North American organization looks to climb back into top-tier competition.
European powerhouse fnatic has also completed the signing of mazay, continuing its efforts to rebuild after an inconsistent first half of the season. The organization will hope the new addition provides much-needed stability. This comes before the next round of international events.
Elsewhere, Legacy confirmed the return of n1ssim to its active lineup, while CYBERSHOKE secured Alkaren on loan from HEROIC with an option to make the transfer permanent. Both moves reflect how organizations are prioritizing flexibility during the busy transfer window.
Roster activity wasn’t limited to player signings. Betclic parted ways with hades and moved Dr3nquu to the bench, leaving the organization with just two active players as it begins a complete rebuild. Meanwhile, BCG finalized its roster by signing mzinho. This was another move that attracted attention across the CS2 community.
With several weeks still remaining in the summer transfer period, even bigger announcements could be on the way. History has shown that successful roster changes often shape the remainder of the competitive season. Therefore, this is one of the most important periods of the year for Counter-Strike 2.
Fans should expect more organizations to announce lineup changes as preparations continue for upcoming international events. If the first week of July is any indication, CS2 rostermania is only getting started.
With Marvel Rivals Season 9 being just a couple of days away, NetEase has officially shed light on the full list of changes that the upcoming patch will bring to the hero shooter, and oh boy, it’s a big one.
It’s safe to say that the Marvel Rivals Season 9 update is set to be the biggest patch that the game has received to date. Alongside all the usual new-season additions, including a new hero, fresh events, and more, the update will completely revamp how Team-Up abilities function in the game, while also bringing major changes to several of the game’s core mechanics.
Without further ado, let’s check out all the major changes coming to Marvel Rivals with the Season 9 update.
Marvel Rivals Season 9 New Heroes
As we had already reported earlier, Jubilee is getting added to the Marvel Rivals roster as the newest playable hero. She will take on the role of a Strategist and support her allies in combat while still being capable of dealing significant damage to enemies.
Fans can check out Jubilee’s official reveal trailer for further information on her full kit:
NetEase has also confirmed that The Hood will join the game’s roster with the mid-season update.
Marvel Rivals Season 9 Team-Up Changes
With the Season 9 update, NetEase is scrapping the old Team-Up formula and introducing a new one.
Rather than locking heroes into fixed Team-Up anchor roles, every character in the game now comes with two separate Team-Up loadouts to choose from before heading into a match.
Moving forward, these Team-Up abilities will function on their own, even if the anchor hero isn’t present on your team. However, having an anchor present bumps the ability up to a stronger version, so synergy is rewarded rather than required.
For instance, Hulk can now pick between a Captain America Team-Up that grants him a new slam attack, or a Wolverine Team-Up that gives him boosted attack power and speed.
Fortify your Frontline! 🛡️
We hear your feedback, Rivals! We're reintroducing Vanguard team-ups to give you a tougher, more tactical edge on the battlefield.
Explore all-new team-up changes with the release of Marvel Rivals Season 9 on July 10th UTC! pic.twitter.com/Mplu2Tsw8G
One of the most crucial changes that the Marvel Rivals Season 9 patch is bringing to the game is the addition of Regenerative Shields to a number of heroes on the roster.
This new health type functions differently from the shields already present in the game and is more similar to a hero’s raw HP pool. Instead of a permanent barrier, a Regenerative Shield sits on top of a reduced base health pool and automatically regenerates once a hero avoids taking damage for five seconds, recovering at roughly 20% of its total value per second.
This mechanic aims to buff up several tanks and flankers rather than simply padding their numbers. At the same time, this removes a bit of pressure from Strategists, who constantly have to monitor all of their teammates amid the heat of battle.
For dive-heavy Duelists and Vanguards, this should mean more sustainability without leaning on Strategists for every point of healing.
These new changes coming with the Marvel Rivals Season 9 update are likely to have a huge impact on the game’s current meta. If you want to know more about the Marvel Rivals Season 9 release date, be sure to go through our detailed article on the topic.
India’s roster for the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) competition at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026 has been announced by NODWIN Gaming, the country’s National Team Partner for the tournament. Alongside the reveal, India has been confirmed for a special invitation to the main event, which will run in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 3 to 8, as part of the broader ENC spanning November 2 to 29.
The BGMI event will see 32 national teams compete for a prize pool of USD 1.32 million, around INR 12.5 crore. Of the 124 countries and territories that submitted rosters, 12 earned direct invitations through the ENC Ranking system, based on points accumulated in official BGMI competitions through July 5. India was among four regions awarded a Special Invite instead, a route reserved for teams facing structural or technical hurdles to standard qualification.
The squad will be captained by Nakul Sharma, who has led sides to titles at BGMS 2022, BMPS 2023, BGMS 2024, CEGC 2025, and BGIS 2026, where he was named Best IGL. He is joined by iQOO SouL teammate Yash Choudhary (“Legit“), Finals MVP at BGIS 2026; Rudra Banswani (“Spower“), fresh off leading GodLike Esports to the BMPS 2026 title; Ankit Shukla (“Akop“), a 2025 BGMI Showdown winner already qualified for the PUBG Mobile World Championship; Abhijot Singh (“Pain“), known for his consistency with iQOO Revenant Xspark; and Raghuraj Singh (“Slug“), BGMS Season 4 champion with K9 Esports. Rahul (“Ayogi“) has been named the team’s coach.
Speaking on the announcement, Nakul said representing India carries a responsibility bigger than any individual player or organisation, and that the group’s focus over the coming months will be on building chemistry and communication ahead of facing the world’s best.
With BGMI confirmed, India has now secured spots in four ENC 2026 titles, also including Chess, VALORANT, and Trackmania. PUBG: Battlegrounds heads into regional qualifiers from July 10–12, Rocket League follows from July 17–19, and MOBA Legends: 5v5! could face qualifiers in mid-August if it misses a direct invite.
Marvel Rivals is perhaps getting its biggest update yet in the form of the Season 9 patch, and fans are understandably eager to find out when exactly the new season will go live.
For the uninitiated, the Marvel Rivals Season 9 update is all set to introduce a plethora of new changes to the hero shooter. Unlike other major seasonal updates, the Season 9 patch will completely revamp the way Team-Up abilities are handled, alongside bringing major changes to some of the existing game mechanics.
As the patch notes of the Marvel Rivals Season 9 update have already been revealed, this article focuses on the exact release date and time for the new season.
Unlock the mysteries behind the Deaths on the Nile in Season 9 of Marvel Rivals! 💀
As Apocalypse fell, inexplicable deaths emerged with no culprit found. Use the Faith Harvesting Engine to unlock 10 new costumes with the Deaths on the Nile Season 9 Battle Pass and unveil the… pic.twitter.com/IbQAAoXD4u
NetEase has confirmed that the much-anticipated Marvel Rivals Season 9 patch is scheduled to go live on July 10, 2026, at around 9 am UTC.
Here’s when the Marvel Rivals Season 9 release time translates to across major regions:
Pacific Time (PT): 2 am, July 10
Eastern Time (ET): 5 am, July 10
British Summer Time (BST): 10 am, July 10
Central European Summer Time (CEST): 11 am, July 10
India Standard Time (IST): 2:30 pm, July 10
Philippine Time / China Standard Time (PHT/CST): 5 pm, July 10
Japan Standard Time (JST) / Korea Standard Time (KST): 6 pm, July 10
Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST): 7 pm, July 10
Note that the Marvel Rivals servers will undergo a brief period of downtime ahead of the Season 9 launch, so players may be unable to log in for a short window before the update officially goes live.
The downtime for Marvel Rivals Season 9 is expected to last for a couple of hours, so fans should be able to enjoy the new update starting around 11 am UTC.
That’s everything you need to know about the Marvel Rivals Season 9 release date and time ahead of its official launch.
ESL has updated its Counter-Strike rulebook ahead of the second half of the 2026 season. The changelog was published on July 7, 2026, on the ESL Pro Tour website. It brings changes to sponsor rules, player conduct, ban policies, and more. One clause has drawn the most attention: a new rule on internal team communications during live matches.
The New Clause: 2.30 Internal Team Communications
The rulebook now includes clause 2.30, titled “Internal team communications during a live match.” It states that talk between teammates during a match still falls under the rulebook, even though this chatter is private.
We are introducing several updates to our #ESLProTour rulebook in preparation for the second season of 2026!
The clause reads: “The private nature of team communications does not exempt participants from the standards of conduct set out herein.” It goes on to say that hate speech or discriminatory language of any kind is strictly banned in internal team communications. Players who break this rule can face penalties at the tournament organizer’s discretion. These range from warnings to fines to further disciplinary action.
ESL says the clause was added to clarify how its existing Code of Conduct applies to team voice chat, not to introduce a separate standard.
What Counts as Hate Speech Under ESL’s Code
Section 5.1 of the Code of Conduct spells out what counts as hate speech or discriminatory language. The list includes:
Hate speech, offensive behavior, or verbal abuse tied to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, or religion
Stalking or intimidation, online or in person
Spamming, raiding, hijacking, or inciting disruption of streams and social media
Posting or threatening to post someone’s private information, known as doxing
Unwelcome sexual attention, including comments, jokes, and advances
Encouraging or advocating for any of the above
These standards already apply to public conduct. Clause 2.30 extends them to what players say to each other during a match.
Arc Raiders has kicked off Trials Season 5, and the new season brings a fresh cosmetic reward called The Scorta outfit. Players can unlock this outfit, along with its color variants and attachments, simply by climbing the ranks in the weekly trials.
Here is everything you need to know about getting the free Scorta outfit in Arc Raiders.
What Is Arc Raiders Trials Season 5
Embark Studios has not released a full seasonal update yet, but Trials Season 5 is now live. This season introduces new weekly challenges for raiders, including objectives that require surviving Pop explosions up close. Completing these objectives each week helps players earn points and climb the rank ladder.
The higher a player ranks by the end of the season, the more rewards they unlock. The main prize this season is The Scorta, a new outfit that comes with several variants, color options, toggles, and an emote.
How to Unlock the Scorta Outfit for Free
To get the Scorta outfit, players need to take part in the weekly trials and keep progressing through the ranks. Each rank unlocks a different part of the outfit or a new cosmetic item. Here is the exact rank needed for each reward:
Tryhard II: Unlocks the base Scorta outfit
Tryhard III: Unlocks the Sleeves and Mask variant of the Scorta outfit
Daredevil I to III: Unlocks more outfit variants, including the Tech Box, Pauldron, and a Hydraulic Pump backpack attachment
Hotshot or Cantina Legend: Unlocks exclusive Red and Blue color variants for the Scorta outfit
Players simply need to complete the weekly trials on offer and keep earning points to move up these ranks.
Full List of Trials Season 5 Rewards
Aside from the Scorta outfit, Trials Season 5 hands out several other cosmetic items as players climb the ranks. Here is the complete reward breakdown:
Rank
Rewards
Rookie III
Pressure Gauge Backpack Charm
Tryhard I
Come at Me Emote, Pressure Gauge Backpack Charm
Tryhard II
Scorta Outfit, Come at Me Emote, Pressure Gauge Backpack Charm
Tryhard III
Sleeves and Mask (Scorta variants), plus all previous rewards
Wildcard I
Tech Box, Pauldron, and Helmet (Scorta variants), plus all previous rewards
Wildcard II
Additional Helmet (Scorta variant), plus all previous rewards
Wildcard III
Armor (Scorta variant), plus all previous rewards
Daredevil I
All Wildcard III rewards carried forward
Daredevil II
All Daredevil I rewards carried forward
Daredevil III
Hydraulic Pump Backpack Attachment, plus all previous rewards
Hotshot
Blue Scorta color, plus all previous rewards
Cantina Legend (Top 1000)
Red Scorta color, plus all previous rewards
This season also carries a similar structure to the previous Trials season, which rewarded players with the Blindspot outfit through the same kind of rank-based progression.
Reports have surfaced suggesting that Valve has generated nearly $878 million from the newly introduced Armory since its launch. While the CS2 market has always been a cash cow for the organization, generating nearly a billion dollars is truly remarkable and speaks to how active the community has been in recent years.
With the CS2 cosmetic market growing at an extraordinary speed, Valve released the Armory, which has a fresh progression system for players to unlock exclusive skins, stickers, and other items by spending Armory credits. This system grew extremely popular among players, prompting them to spend freely on it, which likely served as the reason behind such economic success for Valve.
The data for these figures has been largely derived from publicly available information, making the sum look modest for what could easily exceed the billion-dollar mark if private inventories and untracked accounts are taken into consideration. Not only does this speak to the strength of the community, but credit where it is due, as Valve deserves equal praise for implementing smart economic strategies that keep the game thriving while filling their pockets.
It goes without saying that Valve has not confirmed these claims, and these figures could likely be higher than what these reports claim them to be. If true, Valve can boast having arguably the most profitable video-game economy we have ever seen in competitive titles with such incredible milestones.
Suffice it to say that the Armory is not the whole economy but a part of it, and the skins in the open market also play a part in Valve’s economic growth. Holistically, CS2 is running a complete economy of its own, which serves as a strong backbone for the company in terms of reliability and long-term sustainability.
