If you use AMD’s latest driver, you better be careful while playing Counter-Strike 2 (CS2). Valve released a statement from the official CS2 Twitter saying that anyone using the new Anti-Lag/+ feature on CS2 will receive a Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) Ban. AMD only recently enabled the feature for CS2, but it looks like Valve isn’t messing around about it.
Based on the tweet, we don’t think that this ban is intentional. In fact, it is technically temporary, as Valve said that bans will be reversed after AMD releases an update. Essentially, the Anti-Lag/+ feature is implemented through detouring engine dll functions, which essentially tampers with CS code. In layman’s terms, the feature alters CS2 code which activates the VAC ban automatically.
Valve isn’t against using the feature, but it wouldn’t be wise to alter their VAC code just for a feature of a driver their company doesn’t own. Instead, they’re going to allow AMD to issue an update that would operate differently. After that, they can reverse the ban on those affected. This is a really kind thing to do, especially when many users wouldn’t be aware, and probably just want their gameplay to be faster.
AMD hasn’t responded to the tweet or let their customers know if any changes will be made. This seems unlikely to happen because they’d need to change the way the feature works just for one game. What is more likely is that they’ll turn off the feature for CS2 if not many players are affected. This could put the heat onto Valve instead of them.
This is mostly on AMD for not making sure their feature would work well with Valve’s game before enabling it. They should have made sure that Valve would be okay with it since it modifies code, and seem like they may be to blame for any bans that come as a result.
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