Study says CS2 has the worst anti-cheat, here’s why

CS2 is praised for many things, but fan complaints about VAC anti-cheat have been vilified by research that truly declares it the worst.

Multiplayer games universally struggle with cheating, as no anti-cheat system can completely eliminate cheaters. However, some are better than others, thanks to layered defenses. Until now, gauging which game has the best anti-cheat in 2024 has relied chiefly on player feedback. New research by authors in the United Kingdom has provided a clear evaluation, revealing which games lead and which ones lag when it comes to anti-cheat effectiveness.

This new study reveals why Counter-Strike 2 falls short in the anti-cheat department and how it compares with rival shooters.

CS2 anti-cheat ranked as worst in genre

In a research paper on anti-cheat programs, CS2 ranked at the very bottom compared to similar shooters.

The study evaluated popular shooter games, including Valorant, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Seige, Team Fortress, Overwatch 2, and more, and came to the conclusion that VAC is the worst at filtering out bad actors. The anti-cheat came out at last for all popular games it operates in, which includes both CS2 and Team Fortress 2.

According to the study, CS2 employs a server-side machine-learning algorithm to detect cheats based on suspicious in-game behavior. However, the testers were unable to observe this during experiments, as the advanced anti-cheat measures went unnoticed. To add to that, CS2 does not impose the harshest penalties for repeat cheaters, only issuing a VAC ban, which does not equate to a hardware ban. Since CS2 cheats are extremely cheap and accessible, cheaters often come back with new accounts and continue to ruin the game for serious players. This has been a pattern in the game since its release, and it doesn’t seem to change anytime soon.

While CS2 players aren’t necessarily shocked by the findings, many feel validated seeing the data confirm their frustrations. Cheating has been a persistent issue in CS2, but CS2’s new VACNet, despite the hype around its launch, appears to have significant gaps. Cheap cheats often get detected, but CS2 happens to have serial cheaters who don’t mind shelling out big bucks on undetectable hacks. Another reason is VAC’s age. Serial cheaters have learned to identify ban patterns and have found cheats that easily bypass the system.

It’s unlikely that a study would coerce Valve into making changes to fix the anti-cheat, but players are still keeping their fingers crossed.

A study highlighting CS2’s anti-cheat flaws adds context to why Valve really removed VAC from CS2 and Dota 2.