Valve is Banning Counter-Strike 2 Players for Using AMD Graphics Cards

Cheaters on Counter-Strike 2 have not appeared yet, at least in a huge wave. Cheater problems aside, what if we told you that you could simply get banned from Counter-Strike 2 for having an ordinary and up-to-date AMD graphics card? Sounds very odd and it must be a joke, right? Well, seems like this is the one case where one of the silly-sounding incidents on the internet turns out to be true. One of the latest updates for AMD graphics cards is bundled with an option that can easily lead you to a VAC on Counter-Strike 2 without you noticing.

In the latest AMD update, 23.10.1, the Ant-Lag+ measure was implemented to give a smoother experience on video games. This option can be enabled through settings and it usually helps with giving a better view and faster responsive times. The thing is, for some very odd reason, Anti Lag+ also changes the contents of the .dll file included in any game, unfortunately, this includes Counter-Strike 2. 

 

Modified files mean bad news since VAC will kick off once it detects the change and bans the player. Since the user is not aware, they will get banned for doing absolutely nothing besides booting up the game. The event’s first occurrence was noted by a few players and the official Counter-Strike account on Twitter followed up with an announcement, stating not to turn on the Anti-Lag+ setting until the next AMD graphics driver update arrives.

VAC bans are always permanent, and once they kick off, you cannot play on official servers or reach your items. So, being banned is bad news for the people who want a fresh start with Counter-Strike 2. The good news is, that Valve is working on removing the bans that happened due to AMD driver updates. They also stated they are trying to reach out to AMD and have the issue sorted out as soon as possible.

AMD so far hasn’t made any statement about the whole business of Anti-Lag+ causing issues, however, they removed the download link for the problematic driver, so it seems like they are aware of this issue as well. Until the AMD fixes its drivers, be cautious to not enable the Anti-Lag+ setting on your graphics card.

Atilla Turan (@burningarrow)
Editor, NoobFeed