Is Train coming to CS2?

Train. It’s the hot topic in the CS2 community at the moment. The Active Duty map pool is feeling a little stale right now, and with the Major just around the corner, fans are yearning for the return of an old favorite. This begs the question: is Train coming to CS2? Let’s take a look at the evidence so far.

Yes, Train CS2 is probably just around the corner

All of the evidence points to the fact that Train is likely coming to CS2 in the near future. It all started with an official Tweet from the Counter-Strike 2 account – a Shrek GIF, to be exact, replying to a request to remove Vertigo from the CS2 map pool. This could’ve meant nothing, until the account also changed its header to an image of an asphalt floor. This was the image that sparked a small frenzy among the CS2 community.

Players immediately realised that this just doesn’t exist elsewhere in CS2, and despite just being an image of the ground, it looks a lot like Ivy near T-spawn in CS:GO’s version of Train. Then, there was a back and forth with FaZe’s ropz, releasing joke DMs between the two about the possibility of Train returning in CS2. There’s no smoke without fire here. This is all not to mention multiple dataminers over the last few months noticing references to Train assets throughout various updates.

The most recent update is perhaps the biggest piece of evidence of Train’s impending CS2 return. After releasing a non-Train CS2 update, Counter-Strike tweeted this:

In isolation, this is completely innocent – except it isn’t. You see, 10 years ago, when Valve brought Train back for CS:GO, they put out this tweet:

The exact same wording in both – they’re just teasing us at this point. There’s currently no sign of when Train will release for CS2, but given the evidence, I’d bet it’s not far away.

CS2’s Train likely won’t be Active Duty immediately

It should be noted that even if Train is added with immediate effect, it’s unlikely to go straight into the Active Duty map pool. The reason is simple: CS2 esports. At the time of writing, the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 RMRs are just days away, so removing one map from the pool with another would bring absolute mayhem. Regardless of which map was removed to make space for Train in CS2, it would give some teams an unfair advantage over others.

There’s just no way it goes into Active Duty until after the upcoming CS2 Major. I mean, it could, but it wouldn’t impress anyone. The Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 is currently set to conclude on December 15th, so any point after this, we should see Train enter the main CS2 map pool once again.