After seven years away from official Counter-Strike matchmaking, Cache is back. On April 29, 2026, Valve shipped a 5.1 GB update that brought the iconic map into CS2 — fully rebuilt for the Source 2 engine, visually overhauled, and ready for a new generation of players. For anyone who played Counter-Strike between 2014 and 2019, this is a big deal.
Here's everything you need to know about the release: what changed, what didn't, the full history of how it got here, and what comes next.
Valve's official April 29 update dropped Cache into four game modes simultaneously:
Competitive - Yes
Casual - Yes
Deathmatch - Yes
Retakes - Yes
Premier — not yet
Active Duty / Pro Map Pool — expected after IEM Cologne Major 2026
The update weighed in at 5.1 GB — one of the largest single patches CS2 has received. Cache is set in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, and Valve had been using the radiation symbol as a teaser throughout April.
Beyond Cache, the same patch touched Dust II (the Mid Box / Xbox jump spot is back — intentionally this time), fixed collisions on Office, updated Workshop maps Stronghold and Poseidon, and made minor Animgraph 2 animation fixes to the Talon and Karambit knives.
This is not a port and it is not FMPONE's Workshop version. Valve built their own version, and the differences are immediately obvious.
The biggest visual change is the atmosphere. The 2019 rework — nicknamed "Green Cache" — was dominated by heavy mossy foliage that made the map visually cluttered and caused significant frame rate problems on lower-end hardware. It was never popular. Valve's CS2 version eliminates that aesthetic entirely.
The new Cache has a cleaner, more industrial Chernobyl-style look: concrete, metal, muted tones, and sharp industrial details. It reads more like a facility than a forest. Players who only knew "Green Cache" are essentially seeing a different map.
Textures, lighting, and shadows were all rebuilt for the Source 2 engine rather than ported over from CS:GO assets. The difference is most noticeable in:
Lighting quality — global illumination is dramatically improved, reducing the dark corners that previously made player models harder to spot at certain angles
Texture fidelity — surfaces have more detail and visual clarity across every area of the map
Player visibility — the cleaner palette and improved lighting make characters more readable, especially at Mid distances and in the Heaven area on B Site
Valve made targeted cover geometry changes at A Site (around the Forklift area) and B Site, aimed at creating more readable sightlines and reducing pixel-angle spots that were frustrating in the CS:GO version. These are small adjustments rather than structural reworks — the positions exist in the same places, but the cover shapes and angles have been refined.
FMPONE's assessment going in was direct: "Cache is fair and balanced, so changes come with more risk than reward." Valve respected that. The three-lane structure, mid control flow, A site geometry, and B site layout are preserved. Returning players will find familiar positions in familiar places — the callouts, the rotations, and the fundamental gameplay loop are intact.
Three versions of Cache have existed in recent memory, and they are meaningfully different:
CS:GO Cache (2014–2019) | Green Cache (2019) | FMPONE's CS2 Workshop (2025) | Valve's CS2 Release (2026) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine | Source | Source | Source 2 | Source 2 |
Aesthetic | Industrial, clean | Heavy foliage, green | CS2-faithful recreation | Cleaner industrial, Chernobyl-style |
Performance | Good | Poor (dense foliage) | Good | Good |
Active Duty | Yes | Never | No | Competitive/Casual only (so far) |
Layout | Original | Reworked | Faithful to original | Faithfully preserved with minor geometry tweaks |
The FACEIT version that players used from April 22 onward was based on FMPONE's Workshop build. Valve's official release is noticeably different in its visual direction — same layout, different look.
Beyond Cache, the update included:
Cache
Added to Competitive, Casual, Deathmatch, and Retakes
Dust II
Uncovered Mid Box (Xbox) to reveal a previously hidden jump spot — Valve's note: "On purpose this time"
Office
Enabled collision on tarps on boxes around CT spawn
Workshop
Stronghold and Poseidon updated to latest Workshop versions
Animgraph 2
Minor viewmodel animation adjustments
Talon and Karambit knives now held correctly during defuse animation
Audio
Minor mix changes and adjustments
Fixed issue where C4 equip sound was not interrupted by other equip sounds
Removed first-person death sound effect overlapping with music kit death cues
Rendering
Shader fix for AO while using alpha test, which caused overly dark silhouettes on railings (visible on Mirage)
The layout is preserved, but CS2's volumetric smoke system behaves differently from the flat CS:GO smokes. Every smoke lineup from the CS:GO era needs to be tested and potentially adjusted.
The throwing positions are largely the same — you're throwing from A Main, Squeaky, B Halls, and Mid just as before. The trajectories may differ and the smoke expansion will behave according to CS2's physics rather than CS:GO's.
Priority lineups to verify:
Forklift smokes from A Main and Squeaky
Heaven smoke from the B approach
CT Halls rotation smokes through Connector and Highway
Any Quad one-way smoke from T side
The Cache grenade database is being actively built by the CS2 community now that the official version is live. Expect detailed lineup guides within days.
Not yet. As of the April 29 update, Cache is only in Competitive, Casual, Deathmatch, and Retakes. Premier and Active Duty integration is expected after the IEM Cologne Major 2026, which would mark the start of Premier Season 5.
When Cache does enter Active Duty, a current map has to leave. Valve has not announced anything, but the community debate has centred around a few candidates. Mirage is the most frequently discussed — it has been in the pool continuously since 2013 and many feel the meta has grown stale. Inferno and Ancient have also been mentioned. There is no official word, and Valve rarely telegraphs map pool changes in advance.
What's clear: Cache's return is not a temporary event. Valve bought the rights, rebuilt the map from scratch, and put it in multiple official game modes. This is a permanent addition to the CS2 map library.
Cache was removed in 2019 after five years in the Active Duty pool. For a significant portion of current CS2 players, it's either a nostalgic return or a completely new map. For the competitive scene, it adds a map that many pros and analysts consider one of the most balanced and tactically interesting layouts in Counter-Strike history.
The FACEIT matchmaking numbers told the story before Valve even dropped their version. 148,840 votes to bring Cache back. Unprecedented concurrent player numbers. Server outages. This was the most anticipated map return in CS2's short history, and possibly in Counter-Strike's longer one.
Cache holds a specific place in the game's lore. It was the first community-created map ever added to the CS:GO Active Duty pool. It hosted some of the most celebrated individual moments in pro play — including s1mple's falling AWP no-scope at ESL One Cologne 2016, the graffiti for which is preserved in Valve's CS2 version. Bringing it back is a statement that the CS2 era has room for what made CS:GO great.
Cache being live in official CS2 matchmaking is the best reason in months to finally upgrade your loadout, especially the way skins look on Cache. Whether you're grinding Competitive on Cache or just want to look good doing it, white.market is where millions of CS2 players buy skins at prices consistently lower than the Steam Community Market.
Lower prices than Steam — the same skin costs less on white.market than on Steam Market in the vast majority of cases
No randomised drops — pick the exact weapon, float, and pattern you want and buy it directly
Huge selection — thousands of listings across every weapon and collection
Trusted by millions — white.market is one of the most established and reliable third-party CS2 marketplaces
Sell your own inventory — list skins from your existing inventory and cash out at competitive rates
Cache is back for good. There's never been a better moment to invest in the skin for the AK or rifle you're going to be carrying through A Main for the next few years.
Valve released Cache in the April 29, 2026 update. It is now live in Competitive, Casual, Deathmatch, and Retakes modes.
The biggest change is the removal of the heavy green/mossy aesthetic from the 2019 "Green Cache" rework. Valve's CS2 version has a cleaner, more industrial Chernobyl-inspired look with fully rebuilt textures, improved lighting, and better player visibility across the map.
No. The FACEIT version that went live on April 22, 2026 was based on FMPONE's Workshop build. Valve's official release is a separate build with different visual direction — same layout, different look.
Not yet. As of the April 29, 2026 update, Cache is only available in Competitive, Casual, Deathmatch, and Retakes. Premier and Active Duty inclusion is expected after the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
Valve has not announced anything. Community discussion has focused on Mirage as the most likely candidate, with Inferno and Ancient also mentioned. No official word exists.
Cache was designed by Shawn "FMPONE" Snelling. Valve purchased the full rights from him in May 2025 and rebuilt the map from scratch for CS2's Source 2 engine.
Cache was removed from the Active Duty pool on March 28, 2019, replaced by Vertigo. The map was never officially confirmed as problematic — it was simply rotated out as part of the pool refresh that cycle.
FMPONE released his CS2 remake in March 2025 and sold the rights to Valve in May 2025. He has since moved on to map design at Riot Games. Valve built their own version using the Source 2 engine — the Workshop version remains available but is separate from the official release.
Many will need adjustment. CS2 uses a volumetric smoke system that behaves differently from CS:GO's flat smokes. Throwing positions are largely the same but trajectories and smoke expansion may differ. Community grenade databases for the official CS2 Cache version are being built now.
white.market offers the largest selection of CS2 skins at prices consistently lower than the Steam Community Market, with instant delivery and no randomised drops. Millions of CS2 players use it as their primary skin marketplace.