Cheating in CSGO is a widespread problem in the online gaming community. Cheating issues have plagued Counter-Strike Global Offensive since its inception. It’s especially concerning when professional athletes start doing it.
Image Credit: Steam Community User Jared
Fortunately, you’re about to learn what cheating in CS:GO entails. How do you deal with CS:GO’s disgruntled players who employ cheating, and which professional CS:GO players were shamefully caught, exposed, and banned for CS:GO cheating in professional tournaments?
Cheater’s Playground
If you’re a regular CS:GO player, you’re probably used to encountering cheaters, so-called hackers. Since the game launched free-to-play, players of all levels, casual or hardcore, have flocked to it. Unfortunately, a paywall can no longer keep “some” people out.
This decision, predictably, did not sit well with the existing player base, who have been vocal about their discontent. When CS:GO became free-to-play, the Steam page became severely panned. Unfortunately, these fears are becoming a reality and worsening. These are just a few examples of popular hacks you can experience during your match:
Aimbots / Triggerbots
Aimbots assist hackers in locking onto a target for a significant edge in accuracy. Triggerbots, on the other hand, will begin shooting as soon as your crosshairs pass over a mark.
Wall Hacks
That is a no-brainer because it allows them to assault and see you through the wall as if you were in spectator mode.
Mobility Hack
First of all, mobility hacks are uncommon and hard to hide. However, some cheaters still use them, just to ruin the experience of other regular players. Mobility hacks allow them to walk through walls and objects. Teleportation is also included.
There are more hacks, but these are the most frequent. In any case, hackers destroy the fairness and fun of any game. Cheating ruins the fun for everyone except the cheater.
Is CSGO Full of Cheaters?
Despite Valve’s hardworking anti-cheat system (VAC), cheats are still roaming the game. However, numerous banned players have lost significant accounts due to CSGO cheating.
Nonetheless, since Valve released CS:GO free to play in 2018, hackers have had the option to swiftly create new accounts and continue wreaking havoc on the experience of other gamers in this community.
Several kinds of research on the match history of countless players have been conducted to understand CSGO’s cheating problem. At the time, the percentage of users using a cheat was 4.6%, with 3.8% being VAC banned.
In other words, on average you’ll encounter one cheater in every three CSGO matches you play.
Are Pro CSGO Players Cheating?
One of the most terrible facts about CS:GO is that professional players have been suspected, and even proven, of cheating in significant events. It shows that some gamers will go to any length to defeat their opponent.
Let’s take a look at some CS:GO pro players who have been accused and caught cheating.
Akuma
This CSGO cheating controversy is straightforward and easily understood after pointing out a few clear facts. It occurred in 2021 during the Epic League CIS Tournament.
This tournament was played from home, with no VAC, no Stream delay, and no recorded communications.
Team Akuma progressed from being ranked below one hundred to being ranked in the top twenty throughout this event. They defeated NAVI and finished third in this tournament.
When Akuma’s performance dropped dramatically at another tournament later that year, the organizers took care to include broadcast delay, FACEIT Anti-Cheat, and recorded communications.
Forsaken
Nikhil “forsaken” Kumawat, an Indian CS:GO player, was discovered employing cheats in October 2018. It happened during a professional CS match. His team competed against the Vietnamese Club Revolution.
The crowd and admins swiftly spotted forsaken’s CS:GO hacks. When his side, OpTic India, was thrashed in the first round by Inferno, he had no choice but to use a cheat on the following map, which he then tried to cover up and get rid of. But he was apprehended on time.
As a result, the match was annulled, his team was disqualified, and forsaken was banned for five years.
How to Avoid Hackers in CS:GO
So, what can be done to avoid these fun-destroying pests? For starters, you can obtain CS:GO Prime Status. Before the game’s free-to-play status, the only way to acquire Prime Status was to validate your mobile number in your account after attaining level 21. Players who purchased the game before the change will have their accounts upgraded for free. However, if you’re playing the game after it becomes free-to-play, you should consider purchasing Prime Status. Why? Consider the following advantages:
- Only play matches with other Prime Status players.
- Access to Prime-only souvenirs, item drops, and weapon cases
The first part is the most significant. The ability to play with only Prime players reduces the likelihood of encountering hackers dramatically. All we want to do is play a fair game.
Where to Get a CS:GO Prime Status Upgrade Key?
A Prime Status Upgrade Key can be purchased for $14.99 in the Steam store via the CS:GO page. Alternatively, you can get a Steam Wallet and use it to get Prime Status through Steam.
Does Trusted Mode Prevent Cheats?
Trusted Mode in CS:GO will not help to solve the game’s cheating problem. It will not prevent cheaters from working. However, it does play a minor role in detecting cheating faster.
Playing in Trusted Mode can assist CS:GO in detecting cheats faster. It may even aid in detecting some cheats that would otherwise go unnoticed. So, it won’t stop cheats from working, but it will help enhance the game and find cheaters much sooner.
When you launch CS:GO in Trusted Mode, you avoid mistakenly injecting a cheat alongside standard apps like the video recording software OBS.
Finally, playing CS:GO in Trusted Mode can favor your account’s Trust Factor.
Useful Tips
We’ve all experienced the agony of being paired with cheating opponents. It’s also no fun to play with a teammate who cheats because it interrupts the entire flow of the game, and they don’t leave a single adversary for you to destroy.
One important thing you can do to deal with a cheater problem in CS:GO is to report these players, whether they are teammates or enemies.
When a person receives many reports from multiple CS:GO players, their account will be reviewed and banned if deemed necessary. Initially, there are several less severe penalties for this. You can guarantee that you are not the only one reporting a cheater in these games.
The most important lesson from this game is that hacking or utilizing CS cheating software is not the proper way to play. You aren’t playing the game if you tolerate CS:GO cheating. You’re just scrolling about with no intention of learning or getting better. Hopefully, this guide will prove helpful.
