Counter-Strike 2 Update Brings Back Retakes and Introduces Knife-Glove Trade Ups

Yes, you heard it right, folks! The community’s favorite warm-up mode — Retakes — is officially back in the game. The October 22nd Update has paved the way for the seventh mode added to Counter-Strike. But that’s not all — this update also introduces a new Trade Up mechanic. From now on, players can trade up five Coverts (Reds) to receive a Knife or a Glove (Gold).

This change is single-handedly one of the biggest shake-ups to the Counter-Strike market, and the coming days will reveal its full impact.

Let’s dive into the update.

Retakes Are Here!

The highlight of the update is the return of the Retakes mode. For the uninitiated, this CS2 mode simulates a post-plant scenario where three Ts defend a randomized bombsite against four CTs.

Retake Mode Goes Live! (credits: Valve)

Currently, the Retakes mode is available on the following maps:

• Defusal Group Alpha
  • Dust II
  • Mirage
  • Inferno
  • Vertigo
• Defusal Group Delta
  • Train
  • Anubis
  • Ancient (Night)
  • Overpass
  • Nuke

Trade Up Contracts for Knives and Gloves

Another game-changing addition is the update to Trade Up Contracts. Players can now trade up five Coverts to receive a Knife or Glove. The usual Trade Up rules apply to these Covert-level trades. We’ll cover the new Trade Up system in detail in a separate article.

• Extended functionality of the "Trade Up Contract" to allow exchanging 5 items of Covert quality as follows:
  • 5 StatTrak™ Covert items can be exchanged for one StatTrak™ Knife from a collection of one of the items provided
  • 5 regular Covert items can be exchanged for one regular Knife item or one regular Gloves item from a collection of one of the items provided

Performance Improvements and Gameplay Changes

The update also includes multiple gameplay and performance improvements:

• Molotov-Smoke interaction bug fixed: Previously, multiple smokes and molotovs caused incorrect audio cues.
• Inferno adjustments: Quad and Under Balcony have been tweaked for better visibility.
• Performance optimization: Improvements made to the main menu and item inspection.
• Overall stability: Steps taken to improve hit registration and overall game stability.

You can read the complete patch notes [here].

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Featured Image Credits: Valve // Counter-Strike

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