On May 1, CS2 developers released an update that fixed several minor bugs. However, it was not this that attracted the community’s attention, but the fact that the update was followed by a large wave of bans. Valve has probably introduced a new method for detecting cheaters, which came as a surprise to many players. A sharp rise in the number of blockings can be seen on the graph.
Patch contents
In the patch, the developers fixed several bugs that were discovered after the release of the major update. Specifically, in some cases the game would become unresponsive when the player accessed the purchase menu or pressed Tab. In addition, demo viewing has been improved – they now rewind faster because the game does not process user commands. The correct icon is also now displayed when killing an enemy with a grenade, and a new function has been added to the console for diagnosing performance issues.
Mass wave of bans
Shortly after the release of the new patch, players noticed a large number of bans. In one match, nine out of ten players were banned. In this case, the decision of the “Patrol” is indicated as the reason for the ban.
Dataminer Gabe Follower notes that in fact there is some other system behind the bans. Judging by the information he found in the game's code, the Patrol, designed to monitor suspicious players, is still being finalized, and the community has not received access to this function. Therefore, the data miner believes that the wave of bans is the result of a cheat detection procedure that was launched on the server side.
«Patrol» same – This is a tool that complements the work of anti-cheat software. With its help, Valve involves experienced players in assessing the suspicious actions of other users. By looking at questionable demos, they can determine whether a player is a cheater or not. This system has not yet appeared in the updated version of CS2: “Patrol” was added in the latest major patch, but has not yet been fully implemented.
This is not the first wave of bans in recent memory. For example, at the end of April, another series of blockings was reported, which primarily affected accounts used for case farming. Valve believes that such users can ruin the gaming experience for others and also create unnecessary load on the servers. In the past, there have been other cases of mass bans associated with attempts by developers to identify cheaters and stop their actions.
