For the longest time, Source 2 has been the biggest motivation for releasing CS2 for the game to take full advantage of modern and more powerful systems, resulting in smoother performance and offering better mechanics and protection against cheaters.
While CS2 fared well, Valve has continued its work on its latest game engine, and the latest CS2 update is a testament to this. On 15th October 2025, Valve updated the code for the latest version of Source 2. According to them, the update should reduce the CPU usage and better utilize the single-core performance of CS2, which is still one of the most CPU-intensive games.
This is arguably the most impressive update Valve has released in a long time, and there is more to this Update Package than meets the eye. Read through the patch notes to find out.
India’s most loved battle royale, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), has introduced Special Quick Voices featuring popular gaming creators — Sayip (Malayalam), Raven (Tamil), and Scout (Hindi).
This new addition lets players use the signature voices, catchphrases, and in-game expressions of these creators, bringing an extra dose of authenticity, humor, and regional flavor to every match.
By representing distinct linguistic and cultural identities, these voices celebrate the diversity of India’s vibrant gaming community. It will also make in-game interactions more relatable and fun.
The Special Quick Voices are part of the BGMI 4.0 Update, which continues to build deeper regional engagement and strengthen player connections across the country’s growing gaming ecosystem.
Iconic Dialogues That Bring Regional Flair to the BGMI
Sayip:
“Sayippannan aada ithh”
“Mutheeee ethaaaaa adi”
“Mutheeee ith aaalu vere aaaan.”
Scout:
“Tere bhai ka laser spray!”
“Khelna seekhle T10 ke cuties”
“Kya scene hai aaj ka londo.”
Raven:
“Jod raaa nanu”
“Konja neram summa irunga da”
“Sathiyama 1 hp bro.”
BGMI New Creator Voices Availability and Events
BGMI players can access the Special Quick Voices through the in-game store and participate in community challenges and creator-led events during the campaign period. These exclusive voices will be available via Special Crates for a limited time, offering players the chance to collect and showcase their favourite regional creator voices in-game.
Key Dates
Sayip Crate: October 14, 2025 – November 22, 2025
Scout Crate: October 19, 2025 – December 15, 2025
Raven Sharp Crate: October 31, 2025 – December 8, 2025
By integrating creator-led, regionally resonant content, BGMI continues to evolve as a cultural platform for India’s diverse gaming community, blending entertainment, identity, and innovation in new ways.
Reaching level 20 on Valorant opens up competitive play, so it is the most important early-stage milestone for a new player. Familiarity with the progression system and streamlining your strategy can cut grinding time by a dramatic amount. Your guide to quick leveling is here.
Valorant levels up accounts using Account Points (AP), and each level takes 5,000 AP. Do not mix this up with XP, which only levels up Battle Pass and agent contracts. New level 10 accounts get tremendous boosts: 4,000 AP for the initial daily victory, 4 AP every 6 seconds played, and 200 AP per win. These rates fall to 1,000 AP, 1 AP every 6 seconds, and 50-150 AP per win after level 10. Leverage this acceleration window early.
How to Level Up Fast in Valorant?
Spike Rush is always the most rapid leveling mode, delivering 1,000 XP for every match played in a mere 8-12 minutes – around 100 XP per minute. Testing by the community verifies Spike Rush trumps even perfect Unrated matches (145 XP/min vs. 120 XP/min). Swiftplay provides solid alternate efficiency with 140-180 XP per minute and 2,250 XP in 15 minutes. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch give 900-1,000 XP in 6-9 minutes, ideal for short sessions.
Although Unrated and Competitive games can provide 1,300-5,100 XP per game, depending on rounds won, their 30-40 minute length makes them less effective simply for leveling. Opt for Spike Rush for optimal speed or include a bit of Swiftplay to keep things fresh without losing effectiveness.
Don’t let the First Win of the Day bonus go to waste – it rewards 1,000 AP (4,000 AP for sub-level 10 accounts) and is lost after 22 hours. One such bonus can be saved from days of grinding. Checkpoints give 4,000 XP in total from four tasks that were done fast in Spike Rush – two to three matches complete all checkpoints in 20-30 minutes.
Weekly tasks reward 14,850-27,225 XP per task and feature goals such as damage dealt, headshots received, rounds played, and ability usage. Team Deathmatch effectively fulfills damage and headshot tasks, while longer game modes handle rounds-played goals. Completing all weekly tasks over the course of an Act can reward more than 740,000 XP total.
The majority of players level up to level 20 after 60-100 hours of playtime. New accounts that utilize the sub-level-10 bonus but focus primarily on Spike Rush and daily rewards can reach level 20 in 40-50 hours.
Ubisoft has announced new anti-toxicity measures for its tactical FPS Rainbow Six Siege X with the game’s latest update.
The Rainbow Six Siege X Y10S3.3 patch, which is set to hit the live servers today, will implement some important changes to Voice Chat Moderation that aim to reduce the overall toxicity in the game.
Following the new R6 patch, players will be able to see a new panel upon logging into the game that shows detected disruptive voice or text chat.
Players with a Reputation standing of Respectable and above will be able to use the new panel to provide feedback on any incorrect detections.
Lastly, the devs have also confirmed that Voice Chat detections for all players will be completely reset with this update, giving everyone a fresh start moving forward.
While many players appreciate the company’s efforts to address the toxicity in the game, a good portion of the community remains skeptical about how accurately the system will detect abusive behavior and worries that regular comms and friendly banter could be unfairly flagged.
How effective Ubisoft’s new methods are in combating toxicity in Siege X remains to be seen.
Whether you bought yourself a brand-new weapon skin from the Steam Market and received it with a set of stickers you don’t really like, or you’re just looking to apply a borderless version of a Major autograph sticker on your favorite gun, knowing how to scrape stickers in CS2 is certain to come in handy.
Scraping stickers in Counter-Strike 2 allows players to either partially wear down or completely remove stickers from their weapon skins, enabling them to clean up unwanted designs and make room for new ones. Since each weapon in CS2 can only hold up to five stickers at a time, you’ll occasionally find yourself needing to remove a sticker or two to apply some fresh ones to your trusty AK-47.
If you’re confused about how to scrape stickers in CS2 and don’t want to ruin your skin by accidentally pressing the wrong button, we’ve got you covered.
In this article, we’ll go through all the steps that you need to follow to scrape stickers in CS2.
How to Scrape Stickers in CS2: Step-by-Step Guide
Following the recent changes to stickers in CS2, scraping has become not only easier but also more customizable than ever. Players can now select the exact percentage of scrape that they want on their stickers, which is especially useful when you’re trying to get rid of the borders from a team logo or an autograph sticker.
But how exactly do you scrape stickers in CS2?
Below, we’ve listed all the steps that you need to follow to scrape stickers in CS2:
Launch CS2 and go to your inventory.
Find the weapon skin that contains the sticker that you wish to scrape.
Right-click the skin and select ‘Scrape Sticker’ from the context menu that appears.
Select the sticker that you want to scrape, and move the slider to your desired percentage.
Press the ‘Scrape Sticker’ button located at the bottom of the screen to confirm the scrape. You can also choose to remove the sticker from the gun entirely by pressing the ‘Remove Sticker’ button.
Now, what if you have a sticker that isn’t already applied to a gun?
If you wish to apply the scraped version of a sticker on your weapon, you can right-click on it from your inventory to open up the context menu and hit ‘Apply Sticker’.
Once done, select the skin that you want to place the sticker on, and you’ll be prompted to select the placement and scrape value of the sticker.
Once the placement and scrape percentage are to your liking, hit ‘Confirm Position’ and apply the sticker to your gun.
And that wraps up our guide on how to scrape stickers in CS2. Have fun customizing your skins and spicing up your inventory!
If you are a long-time Counter-Strike player, you probably know how important hand switching is. Changing hands in Counter-Strike 2 provides strategic benefits and individual comfort options that can improve your gameplay experience. Whether you are left-handed, prefer better corner vision, or just a different viewpoint, here is all you need to know about becoming a master of this valuable feature.
Let’s check out different methods to switch your hands in CS2.
How to Switch Hands in CS2?
The easiest method to toggle between hands in CS2 is using the default bind. Press the H key in-game to switch your gun instantly between left and right hands. This toggle feature, built directly into the game, functions flawlessly on all game modes, from competitive matches and practice games to casual play.
The switch happens immediately with no delay, allowing for split-second tactical adjustments mid-round. Each press of H alternates your viewmodel position, making it easy to adapt to different situations as they arise.
To replace the default H key with something more convenient, go to Settings > Keyboard/Mouse and find the “Switch Viewmodel Left/Right Hand” option. Common alternatives are mouse side buttons (Mouse4/Mouse5) for thumb access, or keys V or F if they’re not assigned to other vital functions.
When choosing a custom keybind, select an easily accessible button that will not hinder movement or other important actions. Practice your new binding during training sessions before applying it in competitive play to ensure proper muscle memory formation.
For those who like playing with console control, CS2 has a few command options. Turn on the developer console at Settings > Game > Enable Developer Console and tap the tilde key (~) to open it.
Utilize these commands:
switchhands – Switches between left and right hand
switchhandsleft – Forcing left-hand position
switchhandsright – Forcing right-hand position
cl_righthand 0 – Setting left hand
cl_righthand 1 – Setting right hand
To bind the toggle to a key through console, use: bind “h” switchhands (substitute “h” with the key of your choice).
To set a permanent default hand position, go to Settings > Game > Item and look for the “Preferred Viewmodel Left/Right Handedness” option. Placing this on “Left” will make sure you begin matches with your weapon in the left hand, while “Right” keeps the traditional setup.
Strategic hand switching translates into tangible benefits in gameplay. Near peek-corners, a switch to the correct hand can minimize your exposed body area and enhance your viewpoint. For example, when peeking a left-side corner, switching to the left hand can provide a cleaner shot while revealing less of your character model to potential foes.
The feature assists with angle-clearing effectiveness also. Dynamic hand switching, based on map geometry and corner placement, enables you to sustain improved crosshair positioning while collecting visual data more effectively.
Mohammad “Manya” Raja and Rudra “Spower” Banswani have officially joined Godlike Esports following the team’s underperformance at the BGMI Showdown (BMSD) 2025, marking a major roster overhaul aimed at revitalizing one of India’s most iconic BGMI squads.
The move comes after Godlike parted ways with captain Ashutosh “Punkk” Singh and support player Kaushal “Simp” Jaiswal, who were released on October 13, 2025, due to the team finishing 13th in the tournament and failing to qualify for international events like the BMIC and PMGC 2025.
The addition of Manya and Spower signals a strategic reset for Godlike, who have retained core players Jonathan, Admino, and Godz for continuity. Manya, widely regarded as one of BGMI’s top in-game leaders (IGL), brings a trophy-laden resume that includes wins at the BGMI Masters Series Season 3, BMPS 2023, and multiple Skyesports titles. His leadership is expected to stabilize the squad’s decision-making, a critical need after the team faltered in the BMSD 2025 Grand Finals despite a strong start.
Spower returns to Godlike for a second stint, having briefly played for the team in 2023 before rejoining now after a short but impactful period with Team 8Bit. His return strengthens the team’s aggressive flank play, complementing Jonathan and Admino’s frontline dominance.
The departure of Punkk and Simp was officially announced on October 13, with Godlike’s management expressing gratitude for their contributions, including a third-place finish in BMPS 2024 and a runner-up result in BGIS 2025. Despite their past success, the team’s decline in 2025—marked by a 24th-place finish in BMPS 2025 and 29th in the iQOO Series—prompted management to make tough changes.
With Manya stepping in as the new IGL, the team is shifting from a veteran-led structure to a more dynamic, player-driven command system. The 2026 season is expected to see Godlike compete in BMPS 2026 and other major series, with high expectations given the individual accolades of the new roster. The blend of experience and firepower positions them as immediate contenders, provided they can gel quickly under the new leadership.
Riot Games has officially revealed the patch notes for the highly anticipated Valorant 11.08 update, and it’s a big one.
As the devs had already confirmed earlier, the Valorant Season 25 Act 6 update is set to introduce a plethora of changes to the competitive shooter. Not only will the Valorant 11.08 patch implement Agent nerfs across the board, affecting nearly every role and playstyle, but it will also bring with it complete reworks to Pearl and Abyss.
Maps and Agents aren’t the only things being affected in the Valorant 11.08 update, as the new patch also introduces significant tweaks to the game’s core gunplay. Spraying, in particular, is receiving a major buff, with recoil patterns now behaving somewhat more consistently and predictably across weapons. This change is aimed at rewarding controlled spray transfers and making spraying a viable option in close to mid-range engagements.
Lastly, Riot has announced that starting patch 11.09, accounts detected for sharing must enable Riot Mobile multi-factor authentication to access the Competitive queue. Other modes will remain unaffected.
With that being said, there’s still a whole lot of changes to unpack in Valorant’s latest update. Without further ado, let’s check out the detailed patch notes of Valorant 11.08.
Below, we have listed the patch notes for the Valorant 11.08 update, as confirmed by Riot:
ALL PLATFORMS
GENERAL UPDATES
Our end of year balance patch is meant to adjust how our maps, weapons, and agents work together. The tuning pass in this patch is designed to reinforce what we call “the competitive dialogue”-the round-to-round exchange between attackers and defenders that rewards adaptation and strategy.
Over time, as player skill and ability impact have grown, uncoordinated utility has at times felt just as impactful as well-executed, strategic plays. This has reduced meaningful opportunities for counterplay and diminished the strategic depth we aim for in VALORANT. These changes are focused on striking a healthy balance between gunplay and the abilities that make VALORANT its own unique flavor of tactical shooter.
AGENT UPDATES
General
The agent updates this patch are focused around how we can support higher mastery around ability usage. We want to allow your gunplay to do the talking, while you use abilities strategically and intentionally to gain advantages. These changes should reward players who use abilities well in the right time and place. Additionally, we’re also reducing the size of some of the largest ultimate abilities.
We’re also aiming to create more consistency across the game’s various debuffs, making it easier to build muscle memory when playing with or against effects like Nearsight, Concuss, and Stims.
Initiators are intended to be the go-to agents for breaking angles and creating openings for their team. With this update, we’re adjusting how often they can use their signature abilities within a round. These abilities should remain impactful, but now demand more coordination and deliberate timing to unlock their full value.
Flashes have always been a critical tool for challenging angles, and in a world with less frequent signature abilities, we want them to retain the power needed to start fights. To support that, we’ve increased the strength of Initiator flashes so they remain reliable tools for setting up engagements.
Breach
Fault Line
Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
Initial windup decreased from 1.2s → 1.1s
Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
Flash Point
Flash duration increased up from 2s → 2.25s
Rolling Thunder
Width decreased from 23m → 18m
Concuss duration decreased from 6s → 4s
Ult points decreased from 9 → 8
Fade
Haunt
Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
Haunt active duration decreased 2s → 1.5s
Prowler
Visibility in Nearsight increased from 5m → 7m
Nightfall
Deafen and Marked duration decreased from 12s → 8s
Width decreased from 24m → 20m
Decay now remains a consistent 80 damage over its duration instead of decreasing over time
Gekko
General
Cooldown upon reclaim increased from 10s → 20s
Wingman
Health decreased from 80 → 60
Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
Thrash<
Health decreased from 200 → 180
KAY/O
ZERO/POINT
Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
FLASH/DRIVE
Underhand maximum flash duration increased from 1.5s → 2.25s
NULL/CMD
Updated to match Stim standardization
Increased fire rate reduced from 15% → 10%
Added standardized weapon draw time for Stims
NEW: Increased weapon draw speed by 10%
Added weapon recovery speed for Stims
Weapon recovery speed increase by 10%
Sova
Recon Bolt
Cooldown increased from 40s → 60s
Duelists
Most Duelist gameplay is in a healthy state, so we’re making minor tunings. We want stuns and slows to feel rewarding when they lead to kills, so we’re making adjustments that will reward precise timing and well-coordinated ability combos.
Iso
Kill Contract
Length decreased from 48m → 36m
Neon
Neon’s High Gear changes allow Neon to make more significant timing breaks but will require more thoughtful resource management.
High Gear
Battery recharge decreased, time to recharge to full battery increased from 20s → 60s
Battery drain reduced, increasing sprint time with full battery from 12s → 16s
Relay Bolt
Concuss duration decreased 3.5s → 2.5s
Reyna
Leer
Health decreased from 80 → 60
Empress
Updated to match stim standardization
Reduced reload time decrease from 25% → 10%
Reduced fire rate increase from 15% → 10%
Increased weapon draw speed reduced from 25% >>> 10%
Reduced weapon recovery speed increase from 25% → 10%
Waylay
Saturate
Hindered duration decreased from 4s → 3s
Convergent Paths
Ultimate no longer spawns an afterimage of Waylay, and she is no longer pushed back when casting
Ultimate now briefly restricts aim rotation and movement speed similar to Breach’s Rolling Thunder when casting
Hindered duration decreased from 7s → 6s
Initial windup decreased from 2s → 1s
Width decreased from 18m → 13.5m
Decreased movement speed buff on ult from 15% → 10%
Yoru
We’ve seen a notable rise in Yoru mastery, but his kit has become so effective it can overshadow other Duelists, and even some Initiators. We’re making changes to make his tools a bit more selfish and encourage coordinated team plays to achieve his potential.
Gatecrash
Health decreased from 60 → 20
Audio now plays from Yoru’s location when Yoru teleports or fakes it
Fakeout
Flash duration decreased from 3s → 2s
Blindside
Flash duration decreased from 1.75s → 1.5s
Flash now follows the standard flash falloff curves as other Agents. Previously, Yoru’s flashes that were slightly offscreen were more effective than intended
Dimensional Drift
Yoru can no longer cast Blindside, or set up his fakeout during Dimensional Drift
He can still cast the initial Gatecrash and reactivation, as well as reactivation of Fakeouts
Raze
Blast Pack
Raze can now affected by Slows while midair with Blast Pack
If Slowed, the force from Blast Pack will be reduced, similar to how slows affect other Dashes
Controllers
Controllers were largely in a healthy state and required few changes, though some abilities have been adjusted to align with recent roster-wide updates.
Astra
Gravity Well
Fragile duration decreased from 5s → 2.5s
Cooldown increased from 45s → 60s
Nova Pulse
Concuss duration decreased from 3.5s → 2.5s
Cooldown increased from 45s → 60s
Nebula
Cooldown increased 25s → 35s
Brimstone
Stim Beacon
Updated to match stim standardization
Decreased fire rate increase from 15% → 10%
Decreased movement speed increase from 15% → 10%
Omen
Dark Cover
Cooldown increased from 30s → 40s
Paranoia
Projectile speed increased from 16 meters per second → 20 meters per second
Travel distance reduced from 32.5m → 25m
Viper
Initial contact now inflicts less Decay, reduced from 30 → 10 health
Sentinels
Sentinels are premier at defending territory, but we think there can be more room for dialogue between attackers and defensive Sentinel utilities. These adjustments aim to make it easier to take advantage of intended counterplay while sharpening each Sentinel’s unique identity. We’re also reducing the health of some of the tankier shootables to make them sponge less of your bullets.
Vyse
Vyse has been great at stalling and punishing enemies that move recklessly through her space but countering her has been more difficult than intended. We’re adjusting Shear and Arc Rose’s counterplay rules to make them simpler and more consistent for enemies to perform.
Arc Rose
Arc Rose is now destructible after the flash windup starts rather than being invulnerable.
When enemy players are successfully flashed, the audio cue and voiceline alerting Vyse and her allies is removed
Flash duration decreased from 2.25s → 2.0s
Cooldown are slightly adjusted
After destruction, cooldown is increased from 45s → 60s
Recalling the ability will now always incur a 20s cooldown
Shear
Wall Trap trigger logic has been reworked to make it easier to bait out. The wall now spawns immediately when an enemy enters and then leaves its trigger zone. Enemies will also hear an audio cue, audible only to them, when they enter the trigger zone
Razorvine
Health decreased from 40 → 20
Steel Garden
Initial windup increased from 3.4s → 4.4s
Radius decreased from 32.5m → 26m
Cypher
We’re asking Cypher players to be craftier with their camera placements and focus on his role as a surveillance network master. Enemies will now see and hear a Spycam when it is nearby, similar to Vyse’s Arc Rose. Trapwire has been adjusted to be less lethal, though Cypher can still convert to a kill when they are disrespected.
Spycam
Added stealthing functionality
Inactive camera will be revealed to enemies when you are within 8 meter radius of the camera, and will also have an accompanying audio tell
When the camera is active, there will be a louder persistent camera audio for enemies with a 12m range
Cooldown when destroyed is increased from 45s → 60s
Trapwire
Windup decreased
PC: 1.5s → 0.9s
Console: 2.5 → 1.9s
Players are no longer revealed after 0.5 seconds of the tripwire winding up
Players are tagged + slowed by 50% when chained
If you move more than 4m outwards from the wire it will now immediately zap you instead of pulling you back
Trapwire zap no longer concusses its target. Instead, it will slow + reveal its target for 1 second.
Killjoy
We’re increasing the counterplay around Killjoy’s range restricted utilities, giving enemies more tells to maneuver around unattended utilities and asking KJ to make a sharper call on when to keep her utility active and when to reposition away from them.
Turret
Cooldown when destroyed increased from 45s → 60s
Reactivation time for turret increased from 0.5s → 2s
Turret movement tagging per bullet increased 29.5% >>> 50%
NEW: Added a “windup” effect when Killjoy first re-enters the activation range
Alarmbot
Health decreased from 50 to 20
Reactivation time increased from 1s → 2s
NEW: Added a “windup” effect when Killjoy first re-enters the activation range
Deadlock
GravNet
Cooldown increased from 40s >>> 60s
Barrier Mesh
Cost reduced from 400 to 300
Health of smaller nodes decreased from 570 to 480
Sonic Sensor
Concuss duration reduced 3.5s to 2.5s
Sage
Barrier Orb
Cost reduced from 400 to 300
Fortification delay reduced from 3.3 seconds to 2 seconds
Health of Barrier segments decreased from 800 to 600
MAP UPDATES
In general, our focus for this patch was to encourage more on-site play for both teams, and to make planting for main more risky and predictable.
Pearl
Defending post-plant positions from B Main should remain a viable strategy, but it’s become overly difficult for defenders to retake the site, particularly when utility is in play. To address this, we’re making the following changes:
B-Site
Removed the deep sightline from B Long – This angle provided too much control over the site from a safe distance
Adjusted cover positioning on and around the site – These changes will encourage more direct engagements on the site itself
Abyss
Seeing the map evolve over the last year, we’ve observed many prominent strategies emerge and identified areas that could be improved, mainly focused on strengthening defensibility and improving pathing
B-Site
Site Changes – Currently both teams are having a tough time playing on-site-Defenders struggle with the initial site hold, while Attackers have difficulty holding the spike during post-plant and feel forced to plant for main. We want to take a pass at improving on-site play for both teams while also making post-plants for main more risky.
Mid
Mid Hallway Changes – We want to help open up quicker macro pathing options for both teams. We’re adjusting the hallway in Mid that leads towards B Main to allow for improved flow through the map for both teams.
MAP POOL UPDATES
PEARL and SPLIT are IN the COMPETITIVE and DEATHMATCH queues.
LOTUS and ASCENT are OUT of the COMPETITIVE and DEATHMATCH queues.
WEAPONS UPDATES
Our goal is for VALORANT’s gunplay to feel rewarding to master with exciting weapon choices, allowing for players to express their playstyles in how they take fights. Each weapon in our arsenal should feel they have a unique identity with their own strengths and weaknesses and though the arsenal has felt like it’s overall pretty healthy, we want to make sure we continue to push on making weapons feel like competitive choices for different scenarios and round economy states.
PC ONLY
Rifles
We’ve noticed that tap strafing has been generally the most viable shooting style. We want the decision between tapping, bursting, and spraying to feel more balanced and a more meaningful optimization. We are making some minor adjustments to spraying rifles to make them more of a viable option for fights at the close and mid ranges.
A quick definition for those of you who may not know-
% chance of yaw switch: % chance the gun will swap horizontal recoil from one side to the other (left vs right from your crosshair)
Yaw switch time: how quickly the gun swaps horizontal recoil from one side to the other. When yaw switch time increases, this means you have more time to counteract the recoil
Protected bullet counts: how many bullets in a spray you can use before your gun has a chance of yaw switch
Bulldog
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.37s → 0.6s<
Chance for horizontal (Yaw) to switch increased from 6% → 10%
Phantom
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.37s → 0.6s
Chance for horizontal (Yaw) to switch increased from 6% → 10%
Protected bullet count increased from 6 → 8 bullets
Vandal
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.37s → 0.6s
Chance for horizontal (Yaw) to switch increased from 6% → 10%
Protected bullet count increased from 4 → 6 bullets
Submachine guns
We’re making some changes to SMGs to make the Spectre a more appealing purchase over the Stinger in some scenarios, while also increasing the mastery needed to control the weapon when trying to punch up in eco rounds.
Spectre
Total spread reduced from 1.5 → 1.3
Tap Efficiency increased from 2 → 3
Tap Efficiency determines the rate that inaccuracy is accrued when re-firing prior to waiting for the complete duration of a weapon’s respective Gun Recovery Time. The higher the Tap Efficiency, the lower the rate of inaccuracy accrual
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.18s → 0.28s
Protected bullet count increased from 4 → 5 bullets
Stinger
Full Auto
Total spread increased from 1.3 → 1.5
Total spread accrued faster from 7 bullets → 6 bullets
Vertical (Pitch) recoil curve increases more aggressively
Total recoil is unchanged
CONSOLE ONLY
Spectre
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.20s → 0.28s
Stinger
Full Auto
Vertical (Pitch) recoil curve increases more aggressively
Total recoil is unchanged
Bulldog
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.50s → 0.60s
Phantom
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.50s → 0.6s
Protected bullet count from yaw (horizontal) switching while spraying, increased from 5 → 8 bullets
Vandal
Horizontal (Yaw) switch time increased from 0.50s >>> 0.6s
Protected bullet count from yaw (horizontal) switching while spraying, increased from 5 → 6 bullets
COMPETITIVE UPDATES
Starting in 11.09, accounts detected for sharing must enable Riot Mobile multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access Competitive queue. Other modes will remain unaffected.
For now in 11.08, you can check out the banner in the Competitive lobby or this article for more information on the upcoming changes.
GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS UPDATES
We’ve improved how Placeable Abilities like Cypher’s Spycam and Deadlock’s Sound Sensor previews when placing in our maps. All previews will now better align to the eventual location of your ability.
We have not added or removed any placement options, we have only made our previews more accurate. This is especially so for Deadlock’s Sound Sensor, which will see the biggest preview change, moving away from the current snappy behavior, to a more smooth preview.
PLAYER BEHAVIOR UPDATES
Added “Rank Manipulation” as a new reporting category.
Please use ‘Rank Manipulation’ instead of ‘Cheating’ to report players who abuse matchmaking. This encompasses behaviors we commonly know as smurfing, wintrading, and boosting.
PC ONLY
PREMIER UPDATES
Welcome to Stage V25A6!
At the end of this Stage, the top 16 teams in Invite will remain in Invite. All other Invite teams will be demoted at the start of the next Stage. These rules are listed on the Standings tab.
Demoted teams will seed into the zone they originally promoted from. Next Stage, Team Owners can change their zone in the Team Settings dropdown anytime before the team plays a match.
If your team cannot be placed into a zone at the start of the next Stage, your Team Owner will be prompted to select a zone.
Divisions other than Invite will not have demotion, and teams will still be promoted or be seeded into a division as normal at the start of next Stage.
Contender Eligibility updates
Contender Eligibility for 2025 expires at the end of Stage V25A6.
To be Contender Eligible in 2026, you must perform a qualifying action in Stage V25A6 or at any point in 2026.
Qualifying actions include:
Play a Weekly or Playoff match on a team in Contender or Invite Division.
Reach Immortal 3 or higher peak rank in Competitive.
Play in a Playoff match in Elite 5.
Contender Eligibility for 2026 expires at the end of 2026.
VCT Team Tags
Starting this patch, we’re expanding the Team Tag feature to include tags for VCT teams! Pros will now have their team’s tag shown before their name throughout the client – in the social panel, in lobby, in game (like the killfeed), and on the Competitive Leaderboards!
VCT team names and tags are reserved ONLY for VCT partnered teams.
Current Premier teams that have a team name and/or tag of a VCT partnered team will receive a prompt in-game for their Team Owner to change their team name.
On October 13, Valve shipped out a new Counter-Strike 2 update to the game’s beta depot, bringing a series of changes to defusing that will heavily impact how players choose to fake tap the bomb moving forward.
Pre-Release Notes for today are up. To test these, opt into the beta depot “1.41.1.3-rc1”:https://t.co/mpNApKzqH9
The pre-release update, which is currently available to try out in the beta depot “1.41.1.3-rc1,” implements the following changes to defusing:
Defusing C4 lowers the viewmodel weapon.
Players can no longer scope when defusing.
Players cannot fire their weapon for 150ms upon exiting the defuse.
Note that these changes haven’t been launched in the live servers as of yet. It appears Valve is testing the new defuse mechanics to see how they affect the overall pacing of post-plant situations and player decision-making before pushing them to the main game.
Early feedback from testers indicates that these adjustments are making fake taps a lot riskier, as players now experience a noticeable delay before they can engage opponents after exiting a defuse, adding a new layer of tension to post-plant encounters.
Additionally, being unable to scope in post-plant further removes a layer of deception that CTs could use, preventing them from using scope sounds to fake presence or mislead Ts during post-plants.
Alongside these bomb defusal changes, the latest CS2 beta branch update also brings with it a number of other crucial changes to the title. Fans can check out the finer details of the update by reading the official release notes.
It is not uncommon to grab an expensive skin and then turn your back on it after playing a round. Cases like this are more common than people think, and fortunately for Fortnite players, they can get a refund on the skins that often cost a fortune. In this article, we will explain how to obtain your refund, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
EPIC can be kind, but they are not that kind. The trick behind the refund policy is that you can only cancel the purchases that you have not equipped and within a 24-hour window. Only purchases made with V-Bucks are eligible for a refund, but unfortunately, skins bought with real money cannot be refunded.
How do you cancel/refund a Fortnite skin?
Click your profile icon in the upper-right corner.
Got to the ‘Settings’.
Make your way to the ‘Profile’ tab.
Hit the ‘Return or Cancel Purchase’ icon and go through the purchases made.
How do you refund a Fortnite skin?
Click your profile icon in the upper-right corner.
Go to the ‘Settings’.
Make your way to the ‘Profile’ tab.
Hit the ‘Return or Cancel Purchase’ icon and go through the purchases made.
Find the purchase you’d like to refund and hit the’Use Return Ticket.
To avoid making impulse purchases, make sure to go through the YouTube videos and leaks of the skin you have set your eyes on before you spend the big bucks. This will likely reduce the chances of your making an impulse purchase.
The tricky refund process can be quite challenging for players. The road to getting your V-Bucks is full of challenges, and the requirements to do so will render most players ineligible to get a refund. On the off chance that you are getting a refund/return, be sure to grab it quickly, given the tight return window.
If you still have any doubts, check out the detailed guide below.
