IEM Rio 2026 to be played on new patch

Starting today, all matches at ESL's Counter-Strike 2 events will be played on a new patch. Specifically, the new version of the game will be used at IEM Rio 2026, which kicks off on April 13. The tournament operator officially announced this via its X social media account.

It was also previously revealed that the ongoing BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026 will take place on the old version of Counter-Strike 2, which was used during the first playday.

Notably, on the night of March 18-19, the Counter-Strike 2 developers released an update that significantly reworked the game's reload mechanics. The full list of patch changes can be found in our article.

Origin: x.com