This is the first update for Maya in the last six months, introducing updates to key toolsets including retopology, look development, rigging, character animation, as well as the USD plugin for Maya. The Maya Creative version - a trimmed-down version designed for smaller studios - has also been updated.

Retopologize, the automated retopology system in Maya, has received another update: now, the symmetry options align with the new feature preservation capabilities added in Maya 2024.
Additionally, the underlying ReForm algorithm has been updated, now processing "30% faster".
LookdevX, a new Maya toolkit for creating USD shading graphs, received a more significant update in LookdevX 1.2. Among its new features, LookdevX 1.2 introduces solo nodes, a new dynamic transfer process allowing work with a single shader instead of multiple individual shaders. Moreover, the ability to use both relative and absolute USD paths is now available, and the LookdevX graph is managed by global color management settings. Several workflow enhancements have been made, including the ability to copy and paste nodes and materials, as well as drag-and-drop functionality from external file browsers.
For character rigging, the Proximity Wrap deformer received a new Snap mode for scenarios where the existing Surface mode creates undesirable deformations. The GPU Cache plugin, used to speed up playback of complex rigs, now allows cache playback at a specific frame; additionally, 12 new mathematical rigging nodes have been added.

The Time Slider received further improvements in functionality: now, there's the ability to color code keys, as shown above, and the viewport updates when keys are dragged [Alt]- or [Shift]-. In the Graph Editor, the new "sculpting" system for animation curves, introduced in Maya 2024, now allows modifications along both the Time and Value axes.
The Bake Deformer Tool, used to bake character rigs for export to game engines, now fully supports the Undo feature. Moreover, the baking process has become "faster and uses significantly less memory," although specific performance metrics aren't provided in the release notes. During simulation baking, it's now possible to disable processes that distract computational power from the simulation in the Bake Simulation options.
Beyond the core software, updates have been made to the Arnold, Bifrost, Substance, and USD plugins. USD for Maya 0.25, the most significant update among the four, allows for saving USD files relative to the Maya scene file and isolating selections in the viewport.

Additionally, workflows have been updated when using the Layer Editor, Attribute Editor, and the Channel Box.
Arnold for Maya (MtoA) 5.3.4.1 adds support for new features in Arnold 7.2.4, while Bifrost for Maya 2.7.1.1 is essentially a bug fix for version 2.7.1 shipped with Maya 2024.1. As for the Substance plugin 2.3.4, there are currently no release notes available.

Maya 2024.2 is compatible with operating systems such as Windows 10 and above, RHEL and Rocky Linux 8.8/9.2, macOS 11 and higher. The software is available only through subscription. The subscription fee is $235 per month or $1875 per year. In many countries, artists earning less than $100,000 per year and working on projects valued at less than $100,000 per year are eligible for a Maya Indie subscription, currently priced at $305 per year.

Maya Creative is available on a paid basis, starting from $3 per day, with a minimum subscription cost of $300 per year.