Valve Anti-Cheat bans over 900,000 accounts in one month
Newly released statistics may confirm Counter-Strike: Global Offense players’ worst fear since Valve announced the game moving to free-to-play.
Valve Anti-Cheat banned over 900,000 accounts in January, the highest number of bans in a single month since the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offense. The anti-cheat software was averaging 25,000 bans per day last month.
Using third-party tool SteamDB shows that the collected statistics may shoot up past one million bans once the script fully updates January’s data.
“A huge majority of the bans are on freshly registered accounts,” said SteamDB’s creator Pavel Djundik. “There were always more bans of fresher accounts, but when CS:GO went free-to-play, this ratio just went through the roof, so I think it’s safe to say that a huge majority of the VAC bans are for CS:GO.”
While it can’t be proven which game the accounts were playing when banned, the ban wave does directly coincide with the free-to-play move. Seasoned CS:GO players have voiced concerns that more cheaters and hackers would infiltrate the game in its new state, and these stats may speak directly to that worry.
When Counter-Strike: Global Offensive switched to being a free game on Steam in December, the game’s store page was flooded with 14,327 negative Steam reviews on the first day alone. This was the most negative reviews in a single day for CS:GO since the creation of Steam’s user review system in 2013.
CS:GO currently has 46,628 negative reviews totaled in December, and 10,826 in January.
Most of the reviews state that it’s now impossible to avoid trolls and hackers. Many veteran gamers are also demanding their money back, stating it’s unfair they had to pay for a game that is now free.
Valve has yet to make a statement regarding the decision to make CS:GO free-to-play.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
View full profile
Read Also
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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, ...
