Weekly CS2 Drop System Explained + Rewards You Can Get

The new iteration of Counter-Strike brought tons of discussions, considering the changes that brought CS2 compared to CS:GO. One of the most complex ones became the weekly CS2 drop system, which was renewed during the beta testing but got even more changes with the CS2 release.

Since the weekly rewards in Counter-Strike 2 are the opportunity to collect cases, skins, and graffiti for free, many players are interested in this topic. So, how does the CS2 drop system work? Valve has never explained its workflow, even during the CS:GO’s decade era, and of course, no press release was presented on September 27. However, the attentive community is keen on solving this puzzle, and we will present all the eligible information in this guide.

How Does the CS2 Drop System Work?

For those new to the game, don't be afraid, as understanding the CS2 drop system won’t be a tough task. Plenty of online competitive games use a 'hook' with some small but regular rewards, and the same approach was used by Valve with the release of CS:GO in 2013.

Moreover, Counter-Strike developers went even further and opened a way of trading in-game items outside the official Steam platform. Thus, you can earn cases, graffiti, and skins by simply playing on official servers and then selling them on third-party trading sites for real money. Of course, it’s a pretty doubtful way of earning money, but CS2 case drops really help to keep the gaming community involved and active.

Three Conditions to Meet for Weekly Drop Rewards

The weekly drop is available if the following three conditions are met:

1. Prime Status

Although the game is free to play, a player should have the Prime status of his CS2 account to receive the opportunity of getting drops. Many players got it automatically during the CS:GO era after reaching the 40th Rank, while now it can only be bought as a game upgrade. The icon of the Prime status looks like this:

2. New Rank Level Once a Week

The drop system in CS2 means weekly drops that appear as the reward for reaching a new Rank level — experience progressive line. Since any player can upgrade a few ranks during the week, the reward can be offered only for the first upgrade, which is indicated by the parachute icon near the XP line. A new week starts on Wednesday, so don’t be surprised to get a reward on Monday and then on Thursday if you are not playing regularly.

3. Official Servers Only (In-Game Matchmaking Tab)

Your current XP can be gained only on the official servers, which can be found in the matchmaking tab in the game menu. However, private matchmaking won’t bring you any experience points as players can start cooperating and farming the needed XP relatively fast.

CS2 Case Drop System Changes Compared to CS:GO

Reward System in CS:GO

In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rank level points and rewarding drops coexisted independently. The increase of ranking points depended on your performance, namely your kills and deaths, which sounds fair enough.

However, you could get a skin, graffiti, or a case after a random match, even if you didn’t show any prominent numbers in K/D or KAST terms. It led to the appearance of the whole system of cases farming, where players entered the official matchmaking server, but all were running around on their spawns and got their cases or costly skins sooner or later.

Usually, up to two cases per week can be dropped to a single account, with a dozen extra-cheap skins and graffiti. It’s worth mentioning that gun skin rewards in CS:GO and CS2’s drop pool are the same, including weapons only from the Maps Collections. In other words, gun skins that are dropped in-game cannot be found in traditional cases, making some of them pretty unique and costly enough.

All in all, such a system required changes, although the profitability of farming cases and skins was pretty doubtful with the costs spent on electricity, internet, and so on.

Renewed Drop System in CS2

The first signs of the new CS2 case drop system changes were shown in the game Beta, where players got two guaranteed items after reaching a new Rank. It was a combination of a case (as a rule) and skin or graffiti, with a maximum of two rewards possible during the week.

Although it looked much fairer compared to the approach in CS:GO, the official release brought even more updates. Now, no more than one Weekly Care Package is available, which comes with the first ranking up after the new week starts (on Wednesday). The player is offered a set of four items (usually, one case, single skin + two graffiti), and he has to choose two of them. Sometimes, there is no case in such an offer, or two weapon skins are offered with a single graffiti.

So, those seeking how to get weekly drops in CS2 without playing the game (farm rewards as it could be done in CS:GO) will be disappointed. The renewed approach is related to the ranking points and looks much fairer. At the same time, the lack of new cases on the trading platforms led to the case price increase, but it favors real players.

What Rewards Can You Get in the CS2 Weekly Drop?

As it was mentioned above, three types of rewards could be dropped to players: cases, weapon skins, and graffiti. While the CS2 weekly drop system explained in detail above, those three categories also require some clarifications.

Check the best CS2 players and their inventories.

Skins

Although we still don't have any official info from Valve on this matter, the Counter-Strike community gathered enough info to come up with the chances of receiving one or another skin grade. That is, as of late 2023, five types of skin rarity can be offered as the weekly drop pick:

1. Classified (0.2%)
2. Restricted (1%)
3. Mil-Spec Grade (4.2%)
4. Industrial Grade (18.1%)
5. Consumer Grade (76.5%)

Attentive readers could notice that no Rare Special or Covert items can be dropped as the weekly reward, so there are no chances of getting a knife or gloves. However, the price for some of the skins can surprise, especially with the ones like SG 553 | Integrale (up to $1,800), M4A1-S | Control Panel (up to $970), Dual Berettas | Cobalt Quartz (up to $900). Yes, chances of getting a Factory New item with the Souvenir status are extremely low, but it is possible.

Still, all the weapon skins come as part of one of the following collections (all dedicated to maps):

Cases

The CS2 drop pool of cases is quite different, as there are only five collections that are actively dropping as the Weekly Care Package offer:

The logic is pretty simple — the last five cases released by Valve have the dropping probability close to 20%. Three cases from finished operations (Riptide, Broken Fang, and Shattered Web) are discontinued as weekly drops, alongside the oldest eSports cases (eSports 2014 Summer, eSports 2013 Winter, and eSports 2013).

Explore the CS2 Inventory Value Checker now and transform your assets into opportunities.

With 39 cases in the game overall, the remaining 28 containers have extremely low odds of being dropped — around 0.03%. So, those aiming for a specific case (one of CS:GO Weapon, Chroma, or Spectrum Cases) as the free reward should understand that containers from the table are the only thing they can get.

Graffiti

The drop of graffiti is probably the most disappointing stage of the whole discussion, and for a reason. Most of the CS2 graffiti that can be dropped cost less than a penny, while chances of getting the one with the price of more than 3 cents are pretty low.

Sometimes, however, graffiti containers can be dropped, but the chances are similar to inactive cases pool — close to 0.03%. That is why most players choose a case and a skin in the suggested Weekly Care Package — elementary math in action.

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