win.gg
Win.gg Counter-Strike Valve adds fair play guidelines to fight CSGO matchmaking hackers

Valve adds fair play guidelines to fight CSGO matchmaking hackers

Fariha Bhatti
Fariha Bhatti Published 07/07/2021
Google Preferred Source

Players have been complaining about blatant hackers running rampant in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s matchmaking queue. Instead of coming up with a more severe punishment for these cheaters, Valve has rolled out new “fair play guidelines” in a recent patch update. 

The cheating problem in CSGO isn’t a new thing. Players have long been bugging the developer to wipe out the game’s hackers, and it seems that Valve has finally listened. The developer has released “fair play guidelines” in its latest notes to warn hackers. 

Today we’re adding Competitive matchmaking presets and the ability to save and load favorite map selections. We’ve also added a page with CS:GO Fair Play Guidelines and other miscellaneous updates. Release Notes in full: https://t.co/V4Pcdxxvvs

— CS:GO (@CSGO) July 6, 2021

The guidelines read that players must:

Valve’s shooter is crammed with cheaters who exploit VAC with the help of third-party softwares. While winning games through unfair means has always been a problem in CSGO, it has become more common in the past few months. The number of cheaters spiked after CSGO went free-to-play on Steam in 2018, and hackers have only increased ever since. 

Valve called out by CSGO caster for rampant cheating

The poor matchmaking experience has become a severe nuisance for the game’s players. Many were expecting something more potent than new “guidelines” asking competitors not to hack. The release notes for June 7 feature a few other tweaks to the game, but the guidelines stood out for players tired of getting no-scoped mid-air. The notice also included a warning for hackers. Hopefully, Valve is hinting that it’s gearing up to further punish these hackers soon. 

“Failure to play following these guidelines may result in various penalties, including cooldowns, communication restrictions, and Game Bans. Obviously, it’s fine to try new things and experiment with new strats and skills, but players should not enter a match with the intention of losing or disrupting their teammates,” Valve said. 

Considering the critical situation of matchmaking, the developer restricted CSGO’s Prime queues to premium members, reverting CSGO’s free-to-play status to some extent. However, no direct action against cheaters has been taken so far. Valve’s feeble anti-cheat system that has failed to filter out the cheaters has managed to elude Valve’s attention.

This warning in patch notes is Valve’s first move against the hackers in quite some time, but many players are worried that it’s not nearly enough.

Other updates in CSGO’s recent release notes

Release notes for June 7 include tweaks to the game’s stability, a bullet penetration issue observed on Inferno, and a new bot difficulty selector. Apart from that, premier matchmaking can now be selected together with other competitive maps. Players will also be able to save and load their favourite map selections through new competitive matchmaking preset. 

 

Fariha Bhatti Fariha Bhatti
About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

View full profile
Read Also
IEM Cologne Major 2026 CS2 Stage 3 Pick’Em Predictions Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne Major 2026 CS2 Stage 3 Pick’Em Predictions Owen Harsono It’s that time of the year again, as the next Counter-Strike 2 Major is right around the corner. The IEM Cologne 2026 Major is set to start on June 2, meaning you still have some time to lock in your Pick’Em predictions. The Pick’Em Challenge is one of the most exciting parts of the CS2 Majors, as it allows you to test your knowledge and predict which teams make it ...
Team Spirit concede just 10 rounds in Stage 2 of the IEM Cologne Major Counter-Strike
Team Spirit concede just 10 rounds in Stage 2 of the IEM Cologne Major Owen Harsono It was pretty weird seeing Team Spirit having to start the IEM Cologne Major from Stage 2, but they quickly proved why that was a mistake. With donk shooting on all fronts, the Eastern Europeans speed ran the competition to book their spot in Stage 3. With how they’ve been playing, it’s hard not to wonder whether they can actually win the entire thing. These boys can sometimes be known ...
BIG pull off 0-12 comeback to stay alive – IEM Cologne Major Stage 1 recap Counter-Strike
BIG pull off 0-12 comeback to stay alive – IEM Cologne Major Stage 1 recap Owen Harsono We’ve just witnessed arguably the worst choke in Counter-Strike Major history, and we’re only on the first stage of the IEM Cologne Major. If you didn’t tune into the Stage 1 matches, here’s what you need to know heading into Stage 2. Many fans tend to underestimate Stage 1 teams for fair reasons, but some survivors in this tournament look extremely promising. Two Eastern European teams, BetBoom Team and B8, ...
Who will win the IEM Cologne Major 2026? Counter-Strike
Who will win the IEM Cologne Major 2026? Owen Harsono If you’re looking to play it safe and back one team at the Counter-Strike 2 IEM Cologne 2026 Major, traders prediction markets platforms have a clear frontrunner – it’s Team Vitality. But if it’s not meant to be, there are a few other candidates that could lift the trophy. Here’s what traders on Polymarket and Kalshi think. If you haven’t been watching CS2 this year and are only jumping on ...
The 10 best CS2 players who have never won a Major Counter-Strike
The 10 best CS2 players who have never won a Major Owen Harsono In Counter-Strike, winning a Major immediately puts you into legend status. It’s an achievement that proves you won the game’s biggest trophy. However, there have been some really good players that could never get their hands on the biggest trophy that Counter-Strike esports has to offer. Here is WIN.gg's list of best CS2 players who have never won a Major. ScreaM is one of Counter-Strike's most famous players for one ...
IEM Cologne Major 2026: All the teams, favorites, and outright betting odds Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne Major 2026: All the teams, favorites, and outright betting odds Owen Harsono Mark your calendars, as the IEM Cologne Major kicks off on June 2, 2026. We’re going to see the best teams in the world compete, but which ones are actually favored to take the title? This will be the first time in 10 years that IEM Cologne will return as a Counter-Strike Major, so the stakes this year are much higher than they’ve been in a decade. In this guide, ...
All IEM Cologne winners and rosters in Counter-Strike history Esports Betting
All IEM Cologne winners and rosters in Counter-Strike history Owen Harsono IEM Cologne is one of Counter-Strike’s biggest events, happening every single year. Some seasons, the event is labeled as one of Valve’s two Counter-Strike Majors of the year, but if not, still stands as one of the big events every player chases to win. With the IEM Cologne 2026 Major right around the corner, let’s take a trip down memory lane and check out every single winner of the tournament, ...