{"id":652,"date":"2026-05-22T14:56:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/?p=652"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:57:13","slug":"iem-cologne-2026-major-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/iem-cologne-2026-major-update\/","title":{"rendered":"IEM Cologne 2026: New Challenge Coin, Major Stickers, and Souvenir Trade-Up System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Want to get some IEM Cologne 2026 Major items? The good news is that their sale has already started. The reason lies in the new CS2 update, which is already in the air and ready for download! But what exactly should we expect there? While many players are waiting for new skin collections in the Armory Pass, Valve changed the usual way to obtain Major stickers. But, of course, it\u2019s better to explore everything slowly to be sure that you won\u2019t miss any detail. Without further ado, let\u2019s begin our journey into CS2 changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Major_Hub_Viewer_Pass_and_Stickers\"><\/span>Major Hub, Viewer Pass, and Stickers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>And the first change you can find in the new CS2 update is the IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub. Here, you can purchase a Cologne 2026 Viewer Pass, which comes in two types. The expensive Pass offers additional 900 tokens you can use during the event to get major items like stickers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No less important to mention is that you can play the Pick&#8217;Em Challenge and earn rewards. Among them is an upgradable Cologne 2026 Coin. With an active pass, you can upgrade it from Bronze to Silver, Gold, or Diamond with 300 additional tokens for each upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, remember to check the Active Pass Leaderboard. Here, you can compare your <a href=\"https:\/\/counterstrike.fandom.com\/wiki\/Pick%27Em_Challenge\">Pick&#8217;Em Challenge<\/a> performance to your friends. Show who is the pro in the game!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/souvenir-o-matic.webp\" alt=\"Souvenir-O-Matic: create your own Souvenir skin within seconds\" class=\"wp-image-656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/souvenir-o-matic.webp 700w, https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/souvenir-o-matic-300x191.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Last but not least is Souvenir-O-Matic. With this feature, you can create your own Souvenir skin within seconds. Here is step-by-step guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choose the skin from your inventory.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select a match and a player from it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Obtain the same weapon finish you used in Souvenir quality, with gold stickers for the team, autograph, and map.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your skin had stickers on it before the process, they will be removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Souvenir_Trade-Up\"><\/span>Souvenir Trade-Up<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on, we can use Souvenir skins in trade-up contracts. It works in the following way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choose ten Souvenir skins for a trade-up contract.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Combine them with standard finishes by need.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Confirm the contract.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Receive a standard skin of a higher quality from one of the collections of used skins.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, the process is as simple as always. But, of course, it has already affected the price of Souvenir skins, making the cheap offers multiple times more expensive. At the same time, the value of premium Souvenir items could drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Further_adjustments\"><\/span>Further adjustments<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the further adjustments are several fixes for different cases. For example, Valve fixed finger animation on the Bayonet model. Also, in the advanced video preview, a moment was fixed where tire fire particles were flickering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No less important to mention that a spectator in-eye flash amount was increased. In some cases, there was a pick-up weapon hint text for weapons that couldn\u2019t be picked up. In the end, Valve also fixed the incorrect scoreboard timeline presentation in overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts\"><\/span>Final Thoughts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, Valve entirely turned the IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub into something more. Now, we can directly choose what we want to obtain, along with using Souvenir in trade-up contracts. On one hand, it\u2019s a victory for common players, but a loss for collectors with prestige souvenir items. Of course, we will see the result of this CS2 update in the next few weeks. The only thing that is clear is that it will definitely affect the skin market, as it was with the Trade-Up Update in late 2025. If you want to stay updated with future market changes and CS2 updates, <a href=\"https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/\">check the SkinPlace Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to get some IEM Cologne 2026 Major items? The good news is that their sale has already started. The reason lies in the new CS2 update, which is already in the air and ready for download! But what exactly should we expect there? While many players are waiting for new skin collections in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Everything Added in the IEM Cologne 2026 CS2 Update<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the IEM Cologne 2026 update featuring the new Challenge Coin, Major Stickers, and Valve\u2019s Souvenir Trade-Up System. Learn how these CS2 changes may impact the skin market and collectors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/skin.place\/blog\/iem-cologne-2026-major-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Everything Added in the IEM Cologne 2026 CS2 Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover the IEM Cologne 2026 update featuring the new Challenge Coin, Major Stickers, and Valve\u2019s Souvenir Trade-Up System. 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