CS2 is testing a new VAC, will it finally end hacking?

Luke Warr Published August 20, 2024

CS2 is plagued with cheaters and hackers, but a new VAC could be the answer.

As a free-to-play shooter, Counter-Strike 2 matches are often bombarded with cheaters. Three months ago, Valve claimed to have banned 26,000 cheaters, but it hasn’t stopped the community from continuously complaining about the ongoing issue. With aim bots and wall hackers in almost every other match, competitive players have demanded that Valve make some changes to its anti-cheat.

A new VAC system has finally been confirmed, and it may finally be the answer gamers have been searching for.

New VAC for CS2 revealed, but what is it?

The latest update for CS2 confirmed that Valve is working on a new VAC system called VacNet 3.0.

VAC’s original release was during Counter-Strike: Global Offensive back in 2022. This unpopular anti-cheat system only banned suspicious players for 2 hours. This ban time increased over time, but it didn’t ever seem effective to CS fans, who joked that Valve skipped VacNet 1.0 and 2.0 altogether. VAC2 was released in 2005, however, making bans permanent. Unfortunately, this upgraded punishment hasn’t deterred enough cheaters to make an impact.

The details surrounding VacNet 3.0 have not been revealed just yet, so it’s still unclear how this new VAC3 will improve on the anti-cheat system. It’s safe to say though that the CS2 community has no faith in it anyway. Many have already expressed that they don’t even believe it will come out any time soon and that it won’t work once it comes out.

Other FPS players pointed out that the CS2 new VAC is probably being tested because of Valve’s new game coming out, Deadlock. This would be yet another free-to-play shooter that will more than likely fall victim to plenty of wall hacks and aim bots. Maybe CS2 will be the guinea pig for this new VAC just in time for Deadlock to release, whenever that is.