Valve has found a new way to ban players who have broken one specific rule while playing Dota 2.

(Photo : Valve via Steam)

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Valve's Banning Cheaters, Rulebreakers in Dota 2

With a game so big and popular, the game has a huge player base, making it a hard task to detect cheaters. However, earlier this year, Valve shocked the rulebreakers in the game after permanently banning more than 40,000 Dota 2 cheaters.

As part of the company's way of celebrating the holiday season, Valve is gifting players Frostivus Gift chests that come with valuable in-game rewards. However, players who were found to be smurfing in online matches will receive a Highly Toxic Lump of Coal from the chest.

The chest also comes with a special message, "Your Dota account has been permanently banned for Smurfing, or other violations of the Steam Terms of Service." The Valve Anti-Cheat will also not verify the flagged account, making it unplayable.

Smurfing on Online Games

In case you missed it, smurfing happens when an experienced player creates a new account with a lower skill rating to compete against a less-skilled opponent. This issue is quite common for a game as popular as Dota 2. It creates an unfair competition, especially for players who are just starting to play the game.

Smurfing also goes against the terms of service for many online games. Players have been complaining about smurfed accounts. Fortunately, Valve has found a sneaky way to ban smurf accounts.

Currently, Dota 2 remains to be one of the most-played games on Steam. It will be interesting to see how Valve will continue to innovate new ways to catch rulebreakers in-game to retain its popularity.

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