Community Map Vote for Season 8
A community-voted map will enter the matchmaking pool for the first time when Season 8 launches on April 22. This FAQ outlines the voting process, pool integration, and technical rules.
What is the Season 8 map vote?
The top 1,000 highest Elo players nominated competitive maps outside the active duty pool. Based on those nominations, the three highest-voted maps were selected: Cache, Train, and Vertigo. The full community determines which of these three maps enters the matchmaking pool for Season 8.
How do I vote?
You can cast your vote through the poll link. Voting closes on April 15 at 17:00 CEST.
What happens to the winning map?
The map with the highest vote total enters the matchmaking pool when Season 8 starts on April 22. The map functions under standard matchmaking rules:
Elo balance updates are enabled for all matches played on the map.
It utilizes the identical competitive rulesets and match config systems as the existing active duty pool.
It is available across all regional queues and time intervals.
Is the map mandatory?
No. The map is optional for all players, including those without a Premium subscription. You can remove it from your queue filter settings if you do not want to play it.
Will the map selection and ban system change?
Not for Season 8. Adding more map filters increases queue fragmentation across the available player pool. Offering expanded map filtering choices requires structural compromises:
Longer queue times
Higher server latency (ping)
Less balanced matches
The selected map will be integrated into the existing pool structure first to evaluate its impact on queue data.
Why only these maps?
The vote only includes maps that possess an official CS2 version released by their original creators. Certain popular maps exist as community-made ports, but lack official release validation from the map authors. Platform rules prioritize stability, software compatibility, and developer rights for competitive play.
Will this vote happen again?
Yes. Non-active duty maps will rotate through a similar voting process in future seasons. The process introduces map pool variety while maintaining competitive platform standards.
Competitive integrity and map technical issues
Because these maps are owned by external creators, the platform depends on those authors for hotfixes and map updates. Match data and player feedback will be monitored after deployment. If critical performance drops, geometry bugs, or gameplay exploits occur, the map will be deactivated on short notice while fixes are deployed.