Counter-Strike 2 players beware: Valve warns AMD's latest GPU driver could trigger a Steam VAC ban
Thankfully, bans will be reversed.
If you're a Counter-Strike 2 player with an AMD GPU, pay attention: Valve has warned that the company's latest GPU driver has introduced a new feature that, if activated, will result in a Steam VAC ban. So, basically, proceed with caution.
Here's what's going on; AMD's newly released Adrenalin Edition 23.10.1 driver adds, among other things, Anti-Lag+ support for Counter-Strike 2, which, on the face of it, seems like an entirely positive thing. After all, who wouldn't want less lag in their fiercely competitive online shooty game?
Unfortunately, the way the Anti-Lag+ feature works - it does its job by "detouring engine dll functions", according to Valve - can have serious consequences for Counter-Strike 2 players who opt to turn it on.
As Valve warns in a post on social media, "DO NOT ENABLE ANTI-LAG/+; any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban." And if those capital letters hadn't already clued you in on the seriousness of all this, a VAC ban (VAC, incidentally, stands for Valve Anti-Cheat) basically prevents affected parties from playing the online component of any VAC-secured game - and it's not an insignificant list.
The good news is that while VAC bans are ordinarily "permanent, non-negotiable, and cannot be removed", Valve is making an exception in the case of today's AMD-related mishap. It notes that, "Once AMD ships an update we can do the work of identifying affected users and reversing their ban."
While AMD doesn't seem to have publicly commnented on the issue, it does at least appear to have removed the download link from its GPU drivers page. Even so, if you're an AMD user who was considering firing up Counter-Strike 2 tonight, make absolutely sure Anti-Lag+ is turned off before hopping in - because there's no telling how long it'll take Valve to reverse those bans.
Counter-Strike 2 launched at the end of September, giving Valve's hugely popular, long-running PC shooter series a major revamp. Digital Foundry's Will Judd loved what he played of the new-look Counter-Strike earlier this year.