Summary
Players caught cheating inCounter-Strike 2are being handed pretty hefty punishments as part of the game’s newest update, receiving trade bans on their Steam account. The cheating stems fromCounter-Strike 2’s new Armor Pass, which tasks players with collecting stars, allowing them to unlock new and exclusive cosmetic items. Some players have found a way to exploit thisCounter-Strike 2system, with Valve now taking action against cheaters.
Released on Steam in September 2023,Counter-Strike 2has continued to grow in popularity. The title is one-part remake and one-part new game, usingCounter-Strike: Global Offensiveas a leaping-off point to introduce new ideas and graphical improvements. New visual rendering effects, as well as changes to the game’s physics sandbox, were also made thanks toCounter-Strike 2’s use of Valve’s Source 2 engine. Of course, along with the release ofCounter-Strike 2came new weapon skins and other customization items, something that has remained a crucial part of theCounter-Strikeexperience for over a decade. However, those looking to fast-track their way to new items may want to think twice, with Valve implementing a severe new punishment for those caught cheating.
Shortly afterCounter-Strike 2’s new Armor Pass was released, players discovered a bug that allowed them to earn stars at a faster rate than what was intended. This resulted in the new weapon skins losing some value and rarity, as players who cheated their way through the pass were able to get the items before anyone else.Weapon skins can be ludicrously expensive inCounter-Strike 2, but these prices often depend on the overall rarity of the item. Now, Valve is stepping in, hitting players caught cheating with year-long trade bans on their Steam accounts.
Valve Sends Out Punishments to Counter-Strike 2 Cheaters
Valve issued a message regarding cheating, making sure it was clear to players what the repercussions would be if they were caught. “Some users that exploited a bug with the matchmaking lobby system in order to obtain large amounts of armory stars were presented with the following message upon booting their game following this update: ‘Your trading privileges inCounter-Strike 2have been suspended for exploiting bugged XP lobbies in deathmatch on officialCounter-Strike 2servers. Your trading privileges inCounter-Strike 2will be restored on June 23, 2025.” This means that if players are caught using the armor stars bug, they will not be able to trade for almost an entire year.Trading is a crucial part ofCounter-Strike, with the game developing its own economy and market. While FPS action is the main draw of the game,Counter-Strike 2’s collection of customization items is still a core component of the title, making this new punishment quite scary to would-be cheaters.
Valve is no stranger to punishing cheaters and hackers. The company’s newest game,Deadlock, went viral for its treatment of cheaters. Instead of simply kicking them out of the game,Deadlockactually turns caught players into a frog, leaving them defenseless for the rest of the match. WithCounter-Strike 2’s new trade punishment, it’s even more clear that Valve takes cheating seriously, whether it’s affecting other players in-game or impacting the overallCounter-Strike 2economy.
Counter-Strike 2
WHERE TO PLAY
For over two decades, Counter-Strike has offered an elite competitive experience, one shaped by millions of players from across the globe. And now the next chapter in the CS story is about to begin. This is Counter-Strike 2.A free upgrade to CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 marks the largest technical leap in Counter-Strike’s history. Built on the Source 2 engine, Counter-Strike 2 is modernized with realistic physically-based rendering, state of the art networking, and upgraded Community Workshop tools.
