CSGO update removes bots from competitive & players are furious: January 7 patch notes, map changes, more

CS:GO’s January 7 patch was headlined by an interesting change to remove bots for AFK and disconnected players in competitive. The new Counter-Strike update has been almost universally disavowed by the community, who are outraged by the change.

Bots have been a contentious issue in CS:GO for some time, especially in ranked. Stacks would abuse the system to kick underperforming players to get a bot they can play with instead post-death, although that also posed its own problems.

The AI characters would take weapons away from the players, make poor buys, and other questionable decisions. However, their existence was taken for granted ⁠— some solace in losing a teammate if you could grab a bot and get back on the battlefield for a fair 5v5.

Valve has shut that down though. In a drastic change on January 7, the CS:GO developers have removed bots from competitive “when a player disconnects or is kicked.” This means there’s no more 5v5s if a player leaves, you’ll always be stuck a man down.

In addition to that, if an entire team leaves, there will only be a singular bot spawned. This idle AI will be there for an easy kill so the opposing team can blaze their way to 16 rounds.

However, the changes have been almost universally slammed by the CS:GO community. Players agreed that bots were a problem in competitive, but removing them was not the way to deal with it. “We wanted bots to be better, not gone,” one Reddit user said.

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Prominent CS:GO YouTuber Anomaly also questioned the changes. “They legit removed bots from competitive. If someone on your team leaves, it’s instantly GG. We wanted more control over the bots, being able to have bots drop guns and have more complex commands, not removing them completely?

“Today me and Linda got disconnected from a game because of internet drop. [We] managed to reconnect and while we were gone our team didn’t do horribly because they had 2 bots. With this new update they would have 100% lost all the rounds we were gone.”

That wasn’t the only issue players had with the contentious January 7 update. Valve also removed a function with pings, no longer highlighting weapons in competitive for allies to pick up. This has also fallen flat with players.

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“No more bots? Pings don’t highlight weapons? What the f**k is this update Valve? Now literally every time someone leaves it’s a guaranteed loss… this is so random, what issue does it solve,” another Twitter user added.

Valve are yet to comment on the community feedback. You can find the full CS:GO January 7 patch notes below.

CS:GO January 7 patch notes and changelog

Gameplay

• When a player disconnects or is kicked in classic competitive and wingman modes, they will no longer be replaced by a bot. If the entire other team leaves, one bot will be left on the other team, idling in spawn.
• Fixed bots not navigating properly in Warmup arenas.

View models

• Reduced size of SWAT sleeves matching all existing models.

Misc

• Fixed a crash in Windows dedicated server when “version” command is issued.
• Pings no longer move when walked over by characters, and will no longer highlight weapons in competitive matches.
• Adjusted Retakes clip areas in Mirage and Train

Perfect World

• Accounts that completed government identity verification have been upgraded to CS:GO Prime Account Status for Steam China.

Maps

Ancient

• Further optimizations
• Fixed some clipping bugs

Cache

• Fixed a pixel-gap in the Cargo containers in T-Spawn (Thanks to the perceptive individual that reported it to 3kliksphilip!)
• Fixed Cargo containers not having their proper colors.
• Fixed bomb explosions being visible above the A site. (Thanks markman2575!)

Engage

• Removed several boost spots
• Added stairs in the garage for better rotation flow
• Breakable glass ceiling around A-site and Mid. Smokes and flashes can now be used on A-site
• Removed “office” area on mid
• Added ladder on A upper CT side
• Both entrances of the hut are now wider for better player traffic flow between A-site and Mid
• Lowered A upper and bridge to make entire bombsite more readable
• Removed several awkward angles on A-site
• Removed excessive areas on A-site
• Removed clutter on A-site
• Better FPS around the whole map

Guard

• Widened inner part of connector
• Reduced size of restaurant corner
• Adjusted tarp positions on truck to eliminate some angles
• Lowered half-wall at stairs
• Adjusted timings by pushing CT spawns back a bit
• Shifted crates next to tower further towards pit
• Enhanced visibility for various long range angles
• Removed electric box next to bikes
• Reduced amount of breakable glass at shop
• Blocked angle from CT boost to pit
• Increased size of ladder hole
• Added location names
• Fixed players being able to see into the tower area when boosted at dumpster (u/ReVoLTimE)
• Fixed some Z-fighting and intersecting geo (Thanks Joaokaka1998)
• Fixed various visible nodraw textures (Thanks Joaokaka1998, Fnugz, u/TheSpudd, u/ReVoLTimE)
• Fixed various bomb stuck spots (Thanks Joaokaka1998)
• Fixed player stuck spot on street (Kerluck)
• Clipping adjustments throughout the map (Thanks Joaokaka1998, u/ReVoLTimE, Kerluck)
• Minor visual adjustments and enhancements