Counter-Strike 2’s latest patch was meant to improve competitive play, but many professional players say it’s had the opposite effect. The Show Off update, released on 17 September, tweaked CS2’s shooting subtick system to supposedly make weapon fire more precise and responsive. Instead, some of the game’s biggest names claim it has made the FPS worse to play.
Team Falcons star rifler Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač was among the first to voice his frustration. Taking to social media, he said: “How can they make game feel even worse every f**king time.”
This update completely destroyed the spray—CS feels broken and ridiculous now. And the funny thing is, we’ll have to play in the tournament with this new update
— İsmailcan Dörtkardeş (@XANTAREScsgo) September 17, 2025
He wasn’t alone. Aurora Gaming’s İsmailсan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş argued that the changes have ruined weapon control. “This update completely destroyed the spray. CS feels broken and ridiculous now. And the funny thing is, we’ll have to play in the tournament with this new update,” he posted.
Timing couldn’t be worse
The backlash comes as CS2 heads into a busy stretch of top-tier competition. Both FISSURE Playground 2 and StarLadder StarSeries Season 19 will be played on the updated subtick system. With these events tied to the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), the results could have a big impact on qualification pathways for future majors.
Valve moves quickly
In response to the criticism, developer Valve pushed out another small patch on 18 September. This update attempted to refine subtick mechanics further, with “improved timestep-independence of subtick movement acceleration” added to smooth out gameplay. It also fixed purchasing errors with the new Genesis Terminal Uplink skin.
It’s the seventh update in September alone, highlighting just how much Valve is still adjusting CS2’s mechanics. While the developer has a history of rolling out small fixes until the community is satisfied, pros will be keeping a close eye on whether the latest tweaks restore balance before more big events kick off.
For now, though, it’s clear that CS2’s subtick changes haven’t landed the way Valve intended. As XANTARES put it bluntly, “CS feels broken and ridiculous.”