Valve introduces major store update for IEM Cologne 2026
26 May 2026
With the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne Major 2026 just a few days away, at the time of writing, Valve has introduced a major update of the in-game store. The studio behind Counter-Strike 2, the latest instalment of one of the biggest international esports titles of all times, has opted for a new way of handling in-game items during the upcoming Major in Germany. Say goodbye to the familiar capsules and get ready to explore the brand-new token-based shop where every sticker is available to buy at any time during the event.
IEM Cologne 2026
The update was revealed by Valve just a few days ago, with the IEM Cologne Major 2026 set to take place from Tuesday, June 2nd, to Sunday, June 21st. Over the course of three weeks, the 32 best Counter-Strike 2 teams in the world will be competing for a share of the prize pool, which has been set at no less than $ 1.250.000 this year. Stage 3 of IEM Cologne 2026 will be held at Palladium, with a capacity between 2.000 and 4.000 spectators, while the Playoffs will be played at the impressive LANXESS Arena, which has a maximum capacity of 20.000.
Brand-new store
As if all that isn’t enough, Valve decided to kick it up a notch, just days before the start of the Major in Cologne. The developers introduced a whole new in-game shop system, and we are here to explain to you how it works.
The new Counter-Strike 2 store is basically a demand-driven in-game sticker shop, where the prices of stickers fluctuate based on their (almost) real-time demand. Is one holograph selling quickly? Then you will see its price per sticker rise quickly as well. Is a team logo sticker not selling at all? Then its price will fall accordingly. The reason we stated that the shop is updated “(almost) in real time” is because prices are refreshed periodically and in batches, and players present in the store at the time of a refresh will get a warning right before the update hits.
Tokens
As we wrote earlier, capsules are gone. Instead, players will get access to the new shop, which is entirely token-based. That means that tokens will be the only way to buy stickers and these tokens cannot be bought in bulk. The minimum purchase is 100 tokens, which comes down to $ 0,99 and they can only be acquired at check-out, when your balance falls short of what you need. Once a token is activated, its purchase can no longer be cancelled. If you cancel before activating though, you get a full refund.
What is also interesting is that Valve has included a mechanism to prevent price manipulation. If you buy a sticker and within the first 24 hours after your purchase, the price of that sticker drops by more than 25 tokens, you automatically receive a refund equal to the difference. This refund can be found on your token balance, which is updated within a week.