A Counter-Strike 2 player was banned after enabling AMD’s Anti-lag+ feature, causing him to lose over $100k worth of CS skins without having done anything wrong.
To say Counter-Strike 2‘s launch has been rocky would be an understatement. From issues with hit registration to a bizarre “Michael Jackson” bug that allowed players to lean around corners, players aren’t too happy with the much-anticipated shooter’s state at launch.
That said, Valve has been making continuous improvements to the game to try and add more features and iron out bugs as they arise. However, it’s been revealed that using an anti-lag feature on AMD cards will flag your account for a VAC ban.
Getting banned renders your inventory untradable, meaning that someone like Neon who had an inventory worth over $100k has lost all of that money as a result of a false VAC ban.
AMD Anti-lag+ feature leads to $100k loss via VAC ban
Though Counter-Strike’s skin market hasn’t maintained the same ludicrously high value it had in CS:GO’s twilight years, it’s fairly common for big skins traders and collectors to have inventories valued in the range of tens of thousands of dollars.
One such skin trader by the name of Neon got VAC banned as a result of players who use AMD’s Anti-lag+ feature lost over $100k worth of items, leaving him desperate for answers.
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so i just got randomly vac banned mid game?Hello? @CounterStrike @valvesoftware – never cheated in my live (obviously)Pretty sure it is because of "Anti-Lag+" from @amdradeon as many people seem to be getting false positives there.@f_kasi13 hes my witness! 🤓 pic.twitter.com/Z8TZRWwluL
— Neon -💸 BUYING SKINS! 💸 (@keks_neon) October 13, 2023
Neon’s inventory is stacked with some impressive items near the top of his collection, and almost 1000 CS skins in his inventory overall.
Highlights include a Factory New Butterfly Knife Fade which can go for over $3k on its own, along with a Field-Tested Dragon Lore, a Factory New Talon Knife Fade, and many more.
Fortunately, Valve has addressed the issue formally and warned users of anti-lag potentially banning them from the game. Additionally, they’ll be looking into unbanning affected users who were flagged despite doing nothing wrong.
It remains to be seen if Neon and many other affected players get their accounts back.