IEM Rio 2026 qualifiers to continue on new CS2 patch

Tournament operator ESL announced that all the upcoming matches will be held on the new version of Counter-Strike 2, which was released overnight between January 21 and 22.

Specifically, the first competition to be affected by the changes will be the ongoing closed qualifiers for IEM Rio 2026 – all upcoming matches of the tournament will play out on the new patch.

It was also previously revealed that the final stage of BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1, which kicks off today, will be held on the previous version of Counter-Strike 2, which was used during the tournament's online stage.

Note that in today's patch, the developers launched the new Premier season, updated weapon balance in Counter-Strike 2, made some adjustments to the jump mechanics, improved sounds, and brought back Anubis. The full list of changes can be found in our article.

Origin: x.com