After weeks of teases, Valve has finally released a new major update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Not only the update is packed with cosmetic additions to the game such as weapon skins, stickers and new agents as part of the game newest Operation, called ‘Riptide’, it also comes with gameplay changes.
In order to go over everything Valve just brough to CSGO, let’s take a quick dive at this update. It’s time for Operation Riptide!
Operation Riptide is a go
The latest Operation in CSGO is here. If you aren’t sure about what Operations are about, then we got your back. Operations are temporary events in CSGO that adds maps, exclusive skins drops and a weapon case to the game. While you can queue for the new maps right away, in order to be eligible for the Operation’s exclusive skin drops, you will need to acquired the Operation Riptide Pass. You can do this directly through CSGO, through Steam, or from another user through the Steam Market.
Of course, operations also bring with them upgradeable coins. Once you get the pass, you will get a bronze coin. This coin will get upgrades as you do exclusive missions in-game. These missions will be refreshed every week for the next 16 weeks. Just as important, missions also award you with stars which can be traded for awards; one random drop from an operation collection, agents, and other cosmetics part of Riptide.
In any case, Operation Riptide has brought new agent skins, a new map to Danger Zone, two new maps for DM, Competitive and Casual modes and another two maps for Wingman. Five maps were removed from CSGO’s matchmaking, these were: Grind, Mocha, Pitstop, Calavera, Frostbite. It’s worthy mentioning that new maps will be added during the Operation duration.
As for the cosmetic items added to the game, we got the beautiful “Desert Eagle | Ocean Drive” from the operation’s case, as well as the “AK-47 | Gold Arabesque” from the new Dust2 Collection. In the links below, you’ll be able to take a look at all cosmetics added with this update.
Operation Riptide Case | Dust2 2021 Collection | Mirage 2021 Collection | Train 2021 Collection
Vertigo 2021 Collection | Operation Riptide Agents | Operation Riptide Stickers | Operation Riptide Patches
New ways to play
Another change to CSGO brought by Riptide is new game modes. From now on, you will be able to play shorter competitive games (MR16) through Valve matchmaking. You will also be able to choose between free-for-all deathmatch or team deathmatch.
Then, for those who enjoy the hostage game mode, another change has been added to the game. From now on, Counter-Terrorists will be able to buy a Riot Shield, just like in previous Counter-Strike titles. This change is exclusive to hostage maps, though!
Back at the new competitive mode with shorter duration, this has been a community request for years. It will be interesting to see how the community reacts to it, and how balanced the game will be around this new format. Still, the old MR30 format is also available, so if you prefer longer games, you don’t need to worry about it.
Some changes were also done to existing game modes. Arms Race will now award players on killing streaks with a health boost, and the weapon sequence got overhauled. Demotion also got updated, and it now has a 10-round limit and shorter rounds. Weapon progression was also updated.
Riptide brings gameplay changes too
This new update doesn’t restrict itself to just new game modes. From now on, players will be able to drop grenades to teammates in various modes. This change was discussed in depth in the past, and while not everyone was open to the idea, it certainly brings new possibilities to the game.
Moreover, weapon adjustments were done by the developers. For one, the M4A1-S will now deal more body damage, while the Desert Eagle will deal less. Fans of the Dual Elites can rejoice as the famous “dualies” are now cheaper. If you want a full, detailed breakdown of the weapon changes, then popular community member SlothSquadron got you covered. Check his post covering the changes here.
Then, you’ll now have less time to watch your character’s body once it dies. Instead of 3 seconds, you will now spend 2 seconds watching your character once its killed. 0.5 seconds if it’s killed by a headshot.
Riptide’s new private queues
Another big addition to CSGO with Riptide is the Private Queues. From now on, premier players will be able to generate a code to share with friends and matchmake between yourselves in Valve’s servers. You can either form teams or just let the system make the teams.
Steam Groups also got access to this feature. So, Premier players will be able to host their matches with members of a Steam Group of their choice. Players can just join an existing group or make your own and invite your CSGO friends.
Map Changes with Riptide
Just before the upcoming PGL Major, Valve has made a couple of changes to various maps in the game. Ancient, Dust2 and Inferno are the maps from the competitive pool that got changes.
Ancient got bigger bombsites, new penetration values for objects made with plywood, optimizations and a 1v1 arena. As for Inferno, the map got minor bug fixes, the gate on top of banana is now solid and the 1v1 arena got some fixes, too.
The bigger changes were reserved to Dust2, though. The map finally got a much request change, as terrorists now have blocked view of mid. You can see how the map looks now below:
The Riptide is on!
From now until February 20th, Operation Riptide will be on. If you can’t get the operation pass right away, don’t worry. As long as you are a Prime player, you will be able to complete missions, and be retroactively awarded.
The game mode changes, however, should be staying indefinitely in CSGO and are available for everyone, mostly. So, what you are most excited about? Make sure to check the full update log here, and the dedicated operation page, too!
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