With the IEM Cologne 2026 Major less than two weeks away, Valve has officially shipped out a new update to CS2 featuring tournament Pick’Ems, Major Stickers, and a bunch of other crucial changes.
While the new team stickers and player autographs steal the spotlight in the latest CS2 update, it has also introduced a key change to trade-ups that could have a huge impact on the game’s skin market.
In this article, we’ll go through everything you need to know about the May 21 CS2 update.
CS2 IEM Cologne 2026 Stickers and Pick’Ems
Similar to previous CS2 Majors, Valve has added the Viewer Pass and Pick’Ems for IEM Cologne 2026 before the event officially kicks off on June 2nd.
Players can participate in the IEM Cologne 2026 Pick’Ems without purchasing the Viewer Pass, but they won’t be able to make progress on their tournament coins on successful predictions unless they get the pass.
As usual, players who get the Viewer Pass will get access to unlimited graffiti for any team throughout the duration of the event, alongside Tokens to get the team stickers, player autographs, and even souvenir weapons, which we’ll talk more about later.
CS2 IEM Cologne 2026 Tokens Explained
In keeping with Valve’s broader move away from lootbox mechanics in CS2, the company has refrained from adding tournament capsules or souvenir packages to the IEM Cologne 2026 Major.
Instead, players will be able to purchase Tokens to directly purchase any variant of any team sticker or player autographs.
“In the past we shipped team and player autograph stickers in capsules,” the CS2 devs said in a statement. “While this approach was popular, we’ve heard feedback that players might prefer to purchase stickers directly. Additionally, players in certain regions cannot purchase sticker capsules. So we’re exploring alternatives that allow all players to participate.”
Upon opening the IEM Cologne 2026 shop, players will be greeted with a brand-new UI containing a list of all the tournament stickers available for purchase via tokens. Tokens can be purchased at a rate of 100 Tokens per $1 USD.
Simply pick the team or the player sticker that you wish to purchase, select a variant, and finish the checkout process to have the sticker added to your CS2 inventory.
Note that the prices of all stickers depend on relative demand, as confirmed by Valve. If one sticker is purchased disproportionately more than another, its price will go up, and the other sticker’s price will go down.
CS2 Souvenir Trade-Ups
Lastly, one of the most important changes in the latest CS2 update that is certain to have an impact on the skin market is the change to Souvenir skins.
As a result of Souvenir Packages being removed, Valve has given players the ability to convert skins they already own into Souvenirs in exchange for a certain amount of Tokens that vary based on the demand for the specific gold team and autograph stickers involved, and the rarity of the weapon.
This means that if you have an AWP Dragon Lore, you’ll be able to convert it into a Souvenir Dragon Lore in exchange for Tokens.
Additionally, Souvenir weapon skins will now be eligible for trade-up contracts. They can be used alongside normal quality items, and all Souvenir attributes will be removed from any of the items selected. The result of a Trade Up Contract will be a single normal item of a quality one higher, from a collection of all of the items selected for exchange.
Fans can check out the detailed patch notes for the new CS2 update for a full list of all the changes.