The Overwatch system has been a long-requested feature for Counter-Strike 2. It was removed from the franchise a few months before the sequel’s launch but has made a return in CS2’s massive April 25 update.
Overwatch is a player-driven anti-cheat and griefing system that works together with VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) to ban undesirables from CS2. There are many benefits to players doing Overwatch cases in CS2, but the primary one is the ability to ban cheaters from the game.
Here’s everything you need to know about how access Overwatch in CS2.
Overwatch requirements in CS2
You get access to Overwatch in CS2 after you become a “trusted partner.” While Valve hasn’t announced the requirements of a trusted partner yet, it’s expected to be similar to CS:GO where players had to meet certain conditions to have a high trust factor:
- At least 300 hours in Counter-Strike.
- 150 wins in Competitive.
- Gold Nova one or higher rank.
- Very low reports to the account.
- No VAC bans.
What is Overwatch in CS2?
Overwatch lets qualified members of the CS community, called investigators, download the demos of players suspected of cheating or griefing so they can review the evidence and pass verdicts on the disruptive behavior.
At the time of writing, no player has access to Overwatch in CS2, but a few hours after the April 25 update went live, data miner Gabe Follower shared how the system works on X (formerly Twitter):
- You have two options when submitting a verdict: Guilty or not guilty. The third option “maybe” was removed quickly with another update on the same day.
- Suspects get scrutinized for aim botting, griefing, speed hacking, or wall hacking.
- VAC automatically detects irregularities in a player’s performance and behavior that can result in a cooldown for them and their party, canceling the match altogether.
Interestingly, every investigator may get a tutorial or training document that covers the basics of detecting aim assistance. This is useful because it’s not simple reviewing cases where a suspect is soft-walling or using an aim-assist instead of a blatant aim bot.
Whether these additions are a part of Overwatch remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction against cheaters running wild in CS2.
