On Wednesday, Valve announced that it has updated the rules for RMR tournaments regarding cases of cheating and VAC bans. Previously banned users will now be allowed to participate in Valve-sponsored events as long as at least five years have passed since the violation occurred. But this will only apply to cases where the ban was not related to participation in competitions held by Valve, including qualifying tournaments.
Company representatives explained that this section of the rules has not been updated since CS: GO first began to gain popularity. But now there are players who received a VAC ban eight years ago, and so the company decided to give them the opportunity to return to participate in major tournaments. This innovation turned out to be good news for e-sportsmen who received a ban even before the start of professional performances. Since before this the ban was lifelong, it could become a significant obstacle to the player’s career. The most famous case of this kind – the story of Vincius “vsm” Moreira, who received a VAC ban in 2013 when he was still 13 years old. Finnish eSports player Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen also unsuccessfully tried to get his ban lifted in 2020 and was eventually forced to leave for Valorant.
Valve's decision will likely reduce the number of such cases. At the same time, the company noted that lifting the ban after five years will not apply to cases where players were suspended not because of an anti-cheat, but for other reasons, for example, due to match fixing.
