Valve draws community ire with latest CS2 update

Last night, Valve issued another Counter-Strike 2 update which, among other things, removed alias binds in order to create a more consistent game experience similar to CS:GO. Fans, pros, and the community at large have had issues adjusting to the imperfect subtick system and found that creating alias binds were a way to mimic the CS:GO style feeling. With last night's update, it seems as though Valve was displeased with that workaround.

Alongside that major change, Valve also added a new beeping effect to the bomb which warns players that the bomb has 10 seconds or less to explode. Another important update was the removal of some ceiling peeks that were obviously bugged.

Footstep clarity and other sound fixes regarding occlusion filters have also been rolled out, but the "main event" really is the change that command aliases don't work anymore. Just hours after the initial update, Mohan "⁠launders⁠" Govindasamy already found a solution, which he posted on Twitter.

The update last night was not implemented in the last round of games at IEM Sydney 2023, however, the organizer has not yet said if they will use the update going forward. With several players and teams relying on the aliases at this moment, it would be a dramatic shift in gameplay if that was reversed. However, with launders' workaround, it is possible that players might just need to slightly update their configs to adjust.

Players like FaZe's Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken replied to the tweet about the update, asking "Why mess with the one thing that is consistent"? It's been an issue for many, with casters, players, and others left wondering why Valve seems to be messing with a competitive aspect of the game and not providing reasonable substitutions or fixes.

You can check the whole release notes here.