Players caught cheating in Counter-Strike 2 are being handed pretty hefty punishments as part of the game's newest update, receiving trade bans on their Steam account. The cheating stems from Counter-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 this Counter-Strike 2 system, with Valve now taking action against cheaters.

Released on Steam in September 2023, Counter-Strike 2 has continued to grow in popularity. The title is one-part remake and one-part new game, using Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as 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 to Counter-Strike 2's use of Valve's Source 2 engine. Of course, along with the release of Counter-Strike 2 came new weapon skins and other customization items, something that has remained a crucial part of the Counter-Strike experience 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 after Counter-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 in Counter-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 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 in Counter-Strike 2 have been suspended for exploiting bugged XP lobbies in deathmatch on official Counter-Strike 2 servers. Your trading privileges in Counter-Strike 2 will be restored on October 1, 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 of Counter-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, Deadlock actually turns caught players into a frog, leaving them defenseless for the rest of the match. With Counter-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 overall Counter-Strike 2 economy.

Posted: Oct 13, 2024 8:06 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/counter-strike-2-armor-pass-bug-cheating-bans/