Players using exploits in competitive games is one thing, but you know things are really bad when esports professionals resort to straight-up cheating in tournaments. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been plagued with cheating related issues for a while now, but it seems that Valve is stepping in to make sure that a particular exploit is dealt with.
CSGO was under the Esports Integrity Commission’s microscope in 2020 due to a spree of cheating related issues which led to several ESL and Dreamhack esports participants getting banned. The technique in particular involved the coaches using the spectator camera to give their players information on the positions of the enemy team. We don’t have too many details on this exploit as Valve did not want others to know about how it worked.
As noted by GameRant, the scandal led to 37 teams receiving sanctions for using the cheating technique across 97 different maps. Bans for players and coaches ranged from 3.75 months to bans of 36 months, as with MechanoGun, the coach for Hard Legion. Valve later banned four other coaches permanently for repeat violations.
Valve has come out and added a feature that will help combat this particular exploit. A new update will now enable the spectator camera used by coaches to be tracked. While this doesn’t prevent anyone from using the exploit, it offers accountability. “Coach positions are now saved in round backup files,” say the patch notes for the update.
Valve has maintained silence over the nature of the exploit and whether it’s been fixed as it seems that the company had been tracking the cheaters for a while and was collecting data on how the exploit worked. Additionally, it gave Valve and the EIC more space to weed out additional cheaters using the exploit.
Keeping the information hidden was a smart move, considering that the blanket bans would deter teams from cheating. But if they still went ahead with it, the governing bodies would have enough proof and reason to reprimand them.
Another game that’s currently in the spotlight for its exploits is Call of Duty: Warzone. The game’s Verdansk ‘84 map is littered with glitches that allow players to get behind walls and below the map to easily beat enemies.