Souvenir packages explained: how Major souvenirs work in CS2

A Souvenir is a weapon skin tied to one specific match at a Counter-Strike Major, marked with gold stickers from that game. For over a decade they came out of Souvenir packages, the way you got those packages changed several times, and at Cologne 2026 Valve dropped packages altogether. This guide walks through each version so you know what you are looking at when you buy one.

What makes a Souvenir

Souvenir is an item quality, like StatTrak, shown in yellow on Steam with "Souvenir" in front of the name. Each package belonged to a single Major match and contained a skin from the collection of the map that match was played on. A Mirage package gave a Mirage collection skin, a Nuke package a Nuke skin, and so on. Packages use the newest version of a map's collection at the time of release; for example, packages since Operation Riptide use the 2021 Mirage Collection.

The skin arrives with gold stickers already applied. What those stickers show has changed over the years, as the Counter-Strike Wiki records:

Era	Stickers on the Souvenir
DreamHack 2013	A single event sticker
2014 to Katowice 2015	Foil or gold team stickers for the two teams, plus an event sticker
Cologne 2015 to Berlin 2019	Gold team stickers, the event sticker and a gold autograph of the round MVP
Stockholm 2021 onward	Gold team stickers, the event sticker and a gold map sticker

For years those gold stickers existed only on Souvenirs. Since PGL Stockholm 2021, gold versions have also been sold in capsules, so the stickers alone no longer make a Souvenir unique.

Covert skins from the 2021 Dust 2, 2021 Mirage and Ancient collections, the rarest grade in those Souvenir packages

Viewer drops, then tokens

The first Souvenir packages came with DreamHack 2013, and for years they were handed out at random to people watching. Valve's 2015 instructions were simple: watch matches in-game, or on Twitch with a linked account, for a chance at a package.

Since StarLadder Berlin 2019, packages have come from Souvenir tokens instead. Through the CS2 era the usual routes were:

Pick'Em with a Viewer Pass. Upgrading your event coin by making correct picks earned tokens, and a pricier pass came with three tokens up front.
Buying packages outright. At the Budapest 2025 Major, Strafe reported that any completed match's package could be bought for $2.49 without a Viewer Pass.

You picked the match and redeemed the token, and the package opened into a skin from that map's collection.

The odds

Strafe's Budapest 2025 guide lists the approximate drop rates. They are steep at the top.

Grade	Typical package	Collections with no Consumer grade
Consumer	about 80%	none
Industrial	about 16%	about 80%
Mil-Spec	about 3.2%	about 16%
Restricted	about 0.64%	about 3.2%
Classified	about 0.128%	about 0.64%
Covert	about 0.026%	about 0.128%

Newer collections such as Train 2025 and Overpass 2024 start at Industrial Grade, which is why they use the right-hand column.

Highlight packages in 2025

For the Austin 2025 Major, Valve tried something new for the playoffs. Packages redeemed for playoff matches became Souvenir Highlight Packages: a Souvenir weapon with a dog-tag charm attached, carrying a video clip of a moment from that match. Budapest 2025 repeated the idea, and Strafe noted that its playoff highlight packages would only become available about two weeks after the event. Our charms guide covers what those charms do.

A Budapest 2025 highlight package and a standard Austin 2025 package

Cologne 2026: the Souvenir-O-Matic

The Cologne 2026 Major had no Souvenir packages. Instead, Valve introduced the Souvenir-O-Matic in the Major Shop:

Choose any normal or Souvenir weapon you already own.
Pick a completed match and one player from it.
Pay in tokens, after previewing the result.

The weapon is permanently converted into a Souvenir with gold team, autograph and map stickers. Any stickers already on it are removed first. Valve's FAQ says the price depends on demand for the specific gold team and autograph stickers involved, and on the rarity of the weapon you choose.

That has two consequences. Player autographs are back on Souvenirs for the first time since the Stockholm 2021 change. And a Cologne 2026 Souvenir no longer says anything about luck: it reflects a choice of skin, match and player, not a lucky opening. Highlight charms were sold separately in the same shop.

A second change landed in the same May 2026 update. Souvenir items, which previously could not go into trade-up contracts, can now be used in them. The Souvenir attributes are stripped, and the result is a normal item one grade higher. See our trade-up guide for how contracts work.

Buying a Souvenir

Read the whole item. Check the match, both teams, any autograph and the condition of each gold sticker. Souvenir stickers can be scraped like any other.
Know the era. A package-era Souvenir was a random drop with long odds; a Cologne 2026 Souvenir was made to order. Collectors may value them differently.
Unopened packages still trade. Packages from past Majors remain tradable and can still be opened, with the odds above.
Filter for quality. The Souvenir filter on Buy narrows listings to Souvenir items only, and you can combine it with weapon and collection.

The next Major, PGL Singapore, runs from November 25 to December 13, 2026. As of early October, Valve had not announced how its souvenirs will work.