Those who updated their AMD GPU drivers this week and then dived into a bit of Counter-Strike 2 may be met with an unwelcome addition to their Steam account—a Valve Anti-Cheat ban.
Users began reporting their accounts were receiving mysterious VAC bans in CS2 for no apparent reason late this week but a correlation was quickly made, with those affected having just updated their AMD GPU software to Oct. 12’s 23.10.1 release.
Thursday’s update saw AMD add Anti-Lag+ support for CS2. The feature, designed to “reduce input-to-response latency” and provide Radeon users with a more responsive gameplay experience, utilizes Dynamic Link Library (DLL) rerouting and frame alignment within the game’s code itself to improve response times.
However, VAC doesn’t distinguish between the Anti-Lag+ feature and common cheating software, which also uses DLL intercept and bypass to allow players to hack. As a result, VAC simply locks down the account, banning it and preventing the player from queuing any CS2 matchmaking.
The issue became so widespread that Valve themselves were forced to comment, warning AMD users not to enable Anti-Lag at all in an Oct. 14 tweet. “If you are an AMD customer and play CS2, do not enable Anti-Lag+,” Valve said, adding that they will work on identifying any accounts accidentally triggering VAC after AMD releases an update fixing the issue.
It’s possible AMD may have to outright remove Anti-Lag+ support for CS2 until such a fix is found, as the feature’s technology is in use across a number of titles and may not be easily edited to compensate for CS2.
Until such time, those running Radeon GPUs will need to open their AMD Radeon Software panel and disable Anti-Lag+ manually. This can be done by finding CS2 in the Radeon Settings menu, or by pressing Alt+L via the AMD game overlay.
Reaction to the discovery has been mixed, with those VAC banned now likely needing to wait until AMD clears the issue. “They better reverse this shit quickly,” said one user who was affected by the false ban. Others were able to receive an early unban but were unhappy with how obscure Steam Support had been throughout the contact process.
On the bright side, some users were at the very least reporting improved FPS and performance with Radeon cards after a rocky CS2 launch. Here’s hoping AMD can iron out the kinks and get players up and running as soon as possible.
If you’ve been VAC banned for this issue, Valve has said to reach out via Steam Support and submit a ticket.
Update Oct. 13, 10:05pm: AMD has released a statement acknowledging an issue with Anti-Lag+ and CS2 exists, and is echoing Valve’s request for Radeon users to disable Anti-Lag+ to prevent a ban. “AMD is engaged with Valve to address the issue and will provide more details as they become available.”
For those who have not yet updated software to patch 23.10.1, AMD reiterates it is safe to do so for other users. CS2 users must ensure Anti-Lag+ is switched off if they plan on launching the game and playing on official Valve servers.
