Valve recently launched Counter-Strike 2, the next game in its free-to-play multiplayer team shooter franchise. However, it looks like a new graphics card feature designed to help performance in games is unwelcome in this particular title.
On the official Counter-Strike 2 X (formerly Twitter) account, Valve has issued a warning to players who play the game on PCs with AMD"s Radeon GPUs. It states that the latest driver release adds the Anti-Lag+ feature to the game.
However, because this feature is "implemented by detouring engine dll functions" Valve says this is considered tampering with the game"s code. It warns AMD Radeon players to "DO NOT ENABLE" the Anti-Lag+ feature as "any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban."
AMD"s latest driver has made their "Anti-Lag/+" feature available for CS2, which is implemented by detouring engine dll functions.
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) October 13, 2023
If you are an AMD customer and play CS2, DO NOT ENABLE ANTI-LAG/+; any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban.
Once AMD ships an update we…
AMD first launched its Anti-Lag + feature in a Radeon driver update in September. Here"s how the company describes it:
With AMD Radeon Anti-Lag+, applying frame alignment within the game code itself, allowing for a better frame syncing which leads to even lower latency and great gaming experiences.
Obviously, the phrase "within the game code itself" is the troubling factor with Valve and its use in Counter-Strike 2. Valve says that when AMD releases an update for the driver, presumably without the game code changes, it will be able to "do the work of identifying affected users and reversing their ban."
Valve recently announced it had no plans to launch a version of Counter-Strike 2 for the MacOS, stating that the player base for that platform was "less than one percent" of active players for the game"s previous version, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.