Valve strikes down on CS2 players exploiting XP for Armory Pass

Contents

• Valve imposes one year trade ban on CS2 players farming XP
• What is so special about the Armory Pass in CS2?

Valve has started to take strict action against the CS2 players who are trying to exploit XP in order to get advantages in the new Armory Pass. The Armory Pass update was released on October 2, 2024, and is one of the biggest content updates CS2 has seen in a while. Following it, players can earn Armory Credits through in-game XP. These Credits can subsequently be used to unlock new skins and items. However, some players found ways to abuse the system and are now facing the consequences.

Here's everything you need to know about what Valve is doing against cheaters during the Armory update.

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Valve imposes one-year trade ban on CS2 players farming XP

As shared by @ThourCS2 (one of the most reputable content creators in the Counter-Strike scene) on X, many users are getting a year of trade ban on Steam. The Armory Pass skins are unlocked using Armory Credits, and the only way to earn them is by playing the game more and earning XP. This is the reason why players were trying to find ways to earn XP faster in the game.

Players trying to abuse the system are getting the following message from Valve regarding their account ban:

"Your trading privileges in Counter-Strike 2 have been suspended for exploiting bugged XP lobbies in Deathmatch on official Counter-Strike servers"

As the message suggests, players found a way to enter a bugged Deathmatch server where they were getting more XP than usual and they kept exploiting it to get an unfair advantage over others.

It is to be noted that this is not a VAC ban and players will still be able to play the game. Their trading privileges will be returned after a year. However, trying to exploit another bug in the future after getting unbanned could result in a permanent ban from Valve.

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What is so special about the Armory Pass in CS2?

Armory Pass official banner (Image via Valve)

The Armory Pass stands out as one of the most exciting updates to Counter-Strike 2 in a long time. It offers players over 100 new items including three exclusive weapon collections, a new weapon case, and the release of Weapon Charms. Players can earn Armory Credits through gameplay and redeem them for unique cosmetics.

Interestingly enough, this pass also allows players to stack five passes at once, enabling them to make progress and get more skins together. It's no surprise that Counter-Strike skins can reach values of thousands of dollars, given their rarity and appeal. Once trading options are available on the Armory Pass items, it could become a life-changing deal for many players.