Stickers, Souvenirs and Pick’Em Challenge Added to CS2 for IEM Cologne Major 2026

On the night of May 21-22, Valve released a major Counter-Strike 2 update dedicated to the upcoming IEM Cologne Major 2026. The game client now features tournament stickers for Major participants, the Viewer Pass, the Pick’Em Challenge, as well as a new system for creating souvenir weapons.

One of the main changes is the updated Major store. Traditional sticker capsules are now a thing of the past: players can directly obtain the stickers they want through a token system. This applies to both team stickers and player autographs in different quality variants, including Holo and Foil.

Sticker prices will depend on demand. If many users purchase a certain sticker, its price will increase, while the cost of other items may decrease. At the same time, Valve has added protection against sharp price changes: if a purchased sticker becomes cheaper by more than 25 tokens within 24 hours after purchase, the player will receive the token difference back.

Another important new feature is the ability to create your own souvenir skins. “What will you bring to the autograph session? Now you can create your own souvenir! Take any regular or souvenir-quality weapon from your inventory, choose a completed match and one of the players. You will receive your weapon back in souvenir quality with gold team, autograph and map stickers.”

In addition, the Viewer Pass Cologne 2026 has been added to CS2. After activating it, players will receive the 2026 Cologne Major Challenge Coin and will be able to take part in the Pick’Em Challenge. For successful predictions, the coin can be upgraded from Bronze to Silver, Gold or Diamond. For each level upgrade, users will receive 300 tokens, which can be exchanged for stickers or souvenirs.

As with previous Majors, 50% of revenue from tournament item sales will be distributed among the tournament organizer, teams and players. “However, this time the size of the payouts will depend on results. From now until the end of the Major, royalties from token sales are calculated based on teams’ VRS seeding, and after the Major ends, based on the final tournament results,” Valve said in the announcement.

CS2 Update for IEM Cologne Major 2026 Released

IEM Cologne Major 2026 will take place from June 2 to 21. A total of 32 teams will compete at the championship for a prize pool of $1.25 million.