Some Previously Banned Players Can Now Compete In Counter-Strike Events

Counter-Strike: World Offensive has modified its guidelines for aggressive gamers who’ve been banned for violations of Valve’s Anti-Cheat system. Beforehand, these bans have been everlasting; now, gamers who’ve been banned for VAC violations up to now can compete in Valve-sponsored occasions below particular circumstances.

In a put up on the CS:GO weblog earlier this week in regards to the sport’s upcoming Regional Majors Rankings (RMR) season, Valve wrote that

Shifting ahead, a VAC ban will solely disqualify a participant from an occasion if it was both obtained lower than 5 years prior, or if it was obtained at any time after their first participation in a Valve-sponsored occasion (e.g., after collaborating in a qualifier for an RMR occasion). Word that VAC bans keep in place with all of their different results; the one change is how they affect your eligibility to play in Valve-sponsored occasions.

The motive for the change is that the earlier VAC guidelines “had not seen an replace for the reason that sport was new and all CS:GO VAC bans have been comparatively current. However VAC bans can now be greater than 8 years outdated. So we’ve determined to replace them.”

The rule change impacts two distinguished gamers specifically. One is Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, who obtained a VAC ban in 2015 and went on to sue Valve earlier than leaping to Valorant. Olkkonen tweeted on April 15, “Formally… Unbanned… Thanks CS:GO.”

Followers have additionally introduced up the case of Vinicius “VSM” Moreira, a Brazilian participant who obtained a VAC ban in 2014. VSM tweeted a photo of himself uninstalling Valorant in response to the information. The hashtag “FreeVSM” unfold on Twitter following CS:GO’s announcement of the change.

Different esports organizers have modified their guidelines round VAC bans in recent times. In 2017, the ESL modified its insurance policies to permit gamers with VAC bans over two years outdated to take part in its CS:GO occasions. That rule change was controversial.

On this occasion, followers on the CS:GO reddit appear happy with the choice. As one well summed it up, “5 years is sufficient to nonetheless have [a] profession in CS if you happen to have been only a dumbfuck child, and it ought to be sufficient to wave goodbye to aggressive CS if you happen to have been sufficiently old to know the repercussions, and nonetheless did it anyway.”

(H/t Ars Technica)