Cache is back. Valve confirmed on June 22 that the fan-favorite map will re-enter Counter-Strike 2’s Active Duty pool on July 6, replacing Overpass once Premier Season 4 concludes.

The map has been absent from the Active Duty rotation since 2019, which in esports years is basically a geological era.

What’s actually changing

The updated Active Duty pool will consist of seven maps: Dust2, Mirage, Inferno, Nuke, Ancient, Anubis, and Cache. Overpass, which returned to the rotation around July 2025, exits after roughly one year of competitive play.

Cache re-entered non-competitive modes in April 2026 before this announcement, which in retrospect looked like Valve testing the waters before a full competitive return.

Seven years is a long time in Counter-Strike

Cache was removed from Active Duty in 2019, at a moment when the CS:GO competitive scene was operating at full intensity. The game has changed substantially since then. CS2 replaced CS:GO as the official title, movement mechanics shifted, visual fidelity improved, and the professional player landscape looks almost nothing like it did when Cache last appeared in a Major map pool.

What this means for the competitive landscape

Community feedback and data from competitors like Leetify pointed to Overpass’s declining popularity as a key factor in its removal.

Valve’s decision to rotate maps after Premier Season 4 also signals that the company is continuing to treat the Active Duty pool as a living system rather than a fixed feature. That’s relevant for teams planning long-term tournament schedules and for fans trying to understand which maps to follow heading into the back half of 2026.