Detailed Analysis of CS2 Update from September 17, 2025. How the Genesis Terminal Works, New Skins, Sounds and Features.
Today, September 17, 2025, a major update from VALVE was released for CS2. This isn’t a fundamental change to gameplay, but rather cosmetic improvements: new skins, new functions, creative tools, and traditional fixes. In this article, we’ve gathered detailed information and will explain how everything works. Let’s begin!
New "Genesis" Skin Collection
The developers added 17 skins from the Steam Workshop and placed them in the Genesis collection, which is a fundamentally new mechanic for obtaining items. No, this is neither a case nor a collection in The Armory Pass. Meet the Genesis terminal, which will become a new item in the weekly drop.
How it works:
When the terminal appears in your inventory, you can open it and launch a special menu in the inventory – it’s called the Genesis Uplink Terminal. Then the “seller” offers you to purchase any weapon from the collection at a specific price. You can refuse or agree to the deal, acquiring the item. If you refuse, then 4 more items will be offered (5 total), until you either buy one of them or reject all five offers. No keys need to be purchased for opening, it’s completely free.
What raises questions:
In our view, the main mystery is whether all prices are fixed or if there’s an element of randomness, where you might get lucky and that same “trader” offers to buy a Secret item at a very favorable price. Why is this important? Because this information will form the prices on the trading platform. If there’s no randomness – then they’ll be sold on the TP at approximately the same prices (or even cheaper), otherwise – everything will be much more interesting.
It’s also not entirely clear whether the collections inside the “Genesis” terminal will be updated, as it happens now in The Armory Pass (collections replace each other or are supplemented). It feels like they will work like cases and soon a second terminal with stickers or another collection will appear, for example in honor of CS2’s birthday.
What prices are already known now and how much the terminal itself will cost:
- AK-47 | The Oligarch | (Factory New) 0.009 – $370
- AK-47 | The Oligarch | (Factory New) 0.021 – $300
- MP7 | Smoking Kills (Factory New) 0.024 – $57.36
- MP7 | Smoking Kills (Field-Tested) 0.28 – $9.75
- AWP | Ice Coaled (Field-Tested) 0.18 – $12.24
- M4A4 | Full Throttle | (Minimal Wear) 0.13 – $67.91
As for the price of the terminal itself, you need to look at the situation after the trade ban is lifted. Preliminarily, this item should sell for around one dollar. The logic is simple – a case key costs $2.50, but after opening you’re guaranteed to get an item. With the terminal, to get a skin after opening you’ll need additional expenses, or you might not be satisfied with any of the offers and no new item will appear in your inventory.
Map Creation (cs_script – tool for creating mods)
This is a new system for players to come up with and add their own ideas to maps. It uses the simple JavaScript programming language, like on websites. VALVE even made a demonstration map – script_zoo.vmap, to show how it works.
When creating maps, you can now write JavaScript code and add it to the map file. For example, make a door that only opens on a timer, or add a mini-game inside the map that doesn’t exist in the regular game. In short, VALVE gave players the opportunity to create – we’re waiting for many new ideas and custom modes!
Interface Improvements
Two convenient functions were added that allow viewing other players’ inventories and examining weapons in the main menu in more detail.
Inventory viewing while spectating:
When sitting in spectator mode (when dead and watching the game), you can select any player and open their weapon set and skins. Importantly, only current equipment will be shown, not the entire inventory, but you can click on each item and examine everything in detail.
Certainly, for many this functionality carries no value, but we wouldn’t rush to conclusions. In our view, this is a visual trick from VALVE that will make players who ignore skins become interested and go collect their own combinations and various sets. Also, if you see an interesting sticker craft, you can now easily and thoroughly examine it to replicate it.
Inspection menu in the main menu:
Now, when viewing a skin or sticker – scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in or out, then use Shift to move and focus on a specific area. Also, when inspecting a weapon in hand, the “F” key now works, which launches the inspection animation – this was really missing and it’s unclear why it wasn’t added initially. VALVE is making corrections, well done!
New Grenade Sounds
Each grenade (explosive, flashbang, smoke, incendiary) now sounds different at different stages. The sounds became louder, clearer, and many note the appeared realism.
When you pick up a grenade – you hear one sound, when you pull the pin – another, when you throw – a third. For example, a flashbang beeps high, while an explosive hums with bass. Sounds come from different directions, like in real life. The throwing animation also became smoother.
Shooting Improvements (subtick shooting)
As in every update, VALVE worked on shooting, making it more stable. These fixes should make shots more accurate and also reduce hand shaking when shooting while moving. We’ll see how this works in practice.
Community Reactions and Thoughts About the Update
Traditionally, the update caused different emotions: about half are happy with the new features, while half complain about bugs and the absence of important fixes. Especially professional players criticized the changes with grenade sounds, considering that this is not what the developers should have paid serious attention to.
“Sounds are not toys for children…. stop adding this sound spam” – tN1R
“Why fix real problems, let’s add new sounds..” – n0rb3r7
Undoubtedly, the main innovation is the Genesis terminal, which we will closely monitor in the near future, and we’ll also make a review of skins from this collection very soon. At first glance, the functionality seems absolutely unprofitable for players, especially if you look at the prices that VALVE is asking for skins at this stage.
Alex
Alex is an author and esports observer with more than seven years of experience. He specializes in analyzing new releases in the world of computer games, gaming services, and in-game economies. Alex shares practical experience and an expert perspective on the development of gaming, helping readers understand complex mechanics and stay up to date with the latest news.
