CSGO January 27 patch notes: Shorthanded Loser Income, Technical Timeouts, more
Valve’s latest update for CS:GO on January 27 has looked to balance the books after their controversial bot changes earlier in the year. They’ve implemented a Valorant-inspired bonus income for teams in a 4v5, Technical Timeouts, and more.
While Valve has been working on improving the Competitive experience for CS:GO players, their most recent changes have only made it worse. The developer faced backlash forremoving bots from Competitive, making games even more uneven.
However, they’re trying to win back players with a new set of changes — once again inspired by Valorant. A new “shorthanded” income for teams down on players is being implemented, but it’s not exactly what the community was hoping for.
Finally, Competitive teams down a player will receive an extra $1000 shorthanded loser income (after exceptions are met) per round loss. This does not apply to teams who kick a player. More on that in today’s Release Notes:https://t.co/fYc12ghQHx
— CS:GO (@CSGO)July 15, 2025
New “shorthanded loser income” feature compensates bot change
After the removal of bots for AFK players in CS:GO games, games swung very one-sided after a team went a man down. However, Valve are looking at balancing the books somewhat, implementing yet another Valorant feature into the game.
The new “Shorthanded Loser Income” will give teams a bonus $1,000 following a round loss after being a man-down for three or more consecutive rounds. This only applies to players who have disconnected or are AFK, and not players who are kicked.
It doesn’t entirely compensate for being a player down, but it can help teams potentially claw back a 4v5 from behind with a bit of extra cash. Unlike Valorant’s system though, there won’t be bonuses for teams winning rounds while behind.
Counter-Strike players allegedly created a fake pro LoL team to rig matches
Valve made insane amount of money from CS2 cases just last month alone
Shroud hits back at Counter-Strike community after he mocks iconic map returning to CS2
Technical timeouts also added to Competitive
Valve are also adding an extra measure to try and even the playing field in CS:GO Competitive. If a player disconnects, an automatic two-minute Technical Timeout will be called.
This timeout can only be used once per team per game — if multiple players disconnect at different times, you won’t get multiple timeouts. It will give time for players to rejoin, but if they abandon the game, the timeout will be canceled.
A number of changes were shipped to Elysion, as well as a new sticker capsule commemorating the teams who would have qualified for the Rio Major through the 2020 RMR events.
