The Counter-Strike franchise has a not-so-ideal reputation when it comes to cheating that’s plagued the FPS since its early days, and CS2 certainly isn’t helping the cause—right now, the closed testing beta seems to just give players hacks for free.
Right now, players can reportedly type in “cl_physics_highlight_active 5” into the beta’s console and immediately see enemies through walls. Users who type this in will be able to spot rectangles showcasing an enemy’s position before they’re in eyesight, effectively giving them infamous “red squares” via a quick code string.
As it turns out, anyone can use this in their CS2 matches. In a video shared on March 28, Youtuber Kandis recreated the bug with ease, and it’s something Valve might want to take a look at quite quickly.
CS2 is currently in an invite-only beta, with a small selection of people granted access. This could cause havoc in each match, as it’s even possible to do in unranked lobbies.
Valve has yet to publicly respond to the newly-discovered exploit.
CS:GO’s sequel update, which shifted the FPS onto the Source 2 engine, has had somewhat of a bumpy start even outside this wallhack exploit. Glitches have emerged making bolt-actioned weapons shoot at an uncontrollable rate, ruining the new-and-improved smoke grenades by clipping walls, and even delaying shot registration.
This isn’t even the first cheat to appear in CS2 either. Cheaters have apparently already crafted programs that force players to fall through the map uncontrollably, leaving a knife fight to the death as they plummet to the lowest point beneath the lobby.
This cheat, however, isn’t even created by a third party; it’s a feature that Valve either forgot to remove or is completely bugged.
It seems Valve has a lot on its plate between patching up old mistakes and ironing out new player-made bugs, so don’t expect to be added to the beta anytime soon.
