VAC Ban Wave - Is a CS2 Anticheat Around the Corner?

After a recent CS2 update bringing back Dust 2, adding the ability to change hands, a grenade lineup reticle, and more, Valve Devs have brought us even more positive changes with a recent VAC ban wave!

As is visible in the graph, the most recent CS2 update resulted in a drastic increase in bans, from an average in the 50s to over 500, a whopping 900% increase! The bans were primarily focused on boosting and case farming accounts, per some reports on a few platforms.

Though the bans don't target cheaters, they still have a positive impact on the game. Getting rid of boosting and idling accounts means games will have fewer cheaters, boosted players, and AFK case farmers abusing the CS2 drop system. Note that these bans won't impact players going AFK for short periods of times, but players who are consistently AFK for long periods of time in order to blatantly abuse the case drops.

Is Anticheat Coming Soon?

This recent ban wave stirred up some hope among CS2 players that an updated Valve Anti Cheat system will come to solve the overwhelming cheating problem in CS2. The game has been suffering from a massive portion of the player base cheating since the first months after its official release, and we have yet to see any progress towards anti cheat being made. However, alongside this recent ban wave, we have further proof that CS2 devs are working towards eradicating cheaters.

Firstly, the Overwatch system from CS:GO was recently reinstated. The system relies on trusted CS2 players to decide whether or not reported players are cheating. The system was active for several years in CS2's predecessor and administered millions of Game Bans. Though the system has been officially reinstated, it has yet to reach any players. Valve has yet to select "Trusted Investigators" to make verdicts, but we assume this will be rolled out soon.

Similarly, it appears that VAC-Live is back in action! After months of no VAC Live occurrences, they are starting to pop up often on several social media platforms, giving players hope that devs are starting to roll out the new anti-cheat slowly but surely.

Over the years, we have learned that we shouldn't put too much faith in Valve, because they tend to disappoint. However, we encourage you to be optimistic. It costs nothing to have hope, and we trust that no matter how many times they fail us, Valve still wants the best for the player base.