Valve May Invade the Home of Counter-Strike Cheaters

I’m a big fan of eSports in theory, but only the League of Legends LCS in practice.  Still, I keep an eye on the other professionally-played video games (except Smite, I have a long-standing grudge against Smite) both because watching the highlights can be fun and because, hey, reporting on video game news is my job.

Anyway; while no eSport is free of controversy or cheating (such as looking at the big screen back in the old days of League of Legends, or picking Diddy Kong in Super Smash Brothers) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a cheating problem worse than the Kennedy’s.  Several players have been indicted for anything from fixing matches to downright cheating with tools and mods, and things are showing no signs of improving.  One of the problems with using such a well-loved but old game for competitive play is that it’s had many years for hackers and modders to tinker with files and give players that winning edge.

Despite Valve’s efforts, things haven’t improved, so a more… dramatic measure has been implemented; something that might easily be one of the most intense, aggressive acts of rule enforcement in eSports history.

I’ll let you read the official statement from inside the anti-cheating handbook given to the pros:

"All players may be subject to visits from FACEIT admins to inspect their computers for cheats and/or observe them playing an official match. Inspections may happen at random and may not necessarily suggest a suspicion of cheating. To be clear, what we're saying is we may turn up at your house. Yes, we are serious."

If you’re a professional Counter-Strike player, your house and computer could be searched at random by admins searching for signs of cheating.  Wow.

That said, while it sounds impressive, in practice it’s bark is worse than its bite.  Having admins visit the homes of players at random is a slow, expensive process—and as Na'Vi player Denis "seized" Kostin said to Fragbite;

"For me it's funny because people have played with cheats on stage, and an agent will come to their house and watch the match to find cheats no one saw on stage.”

Since the cheats often employed by these players are more often than not on a USB or some other external device, they’d have more than enough time to ‘destroy the evidence’ when they realize they’ve been targeted.

Still, while it may not be that effective, it certainly shows Valve is taking this seriously.  Maybe enough to scare a few players while a more practical system is implemented.  We can only hope, for the sanctity of eSport’s sake.