Valve brings the ban hammer down on nearly 100,000 Dota 2 smurf accounts and other "bad actors" with a lump of Christmas coal
Dec. 15, 2023“Regardless of how you’ve been naughty, we’ve been watching you (not while you’re sleeping, calm down)"
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Valveis channeling its inner Santa Claus with a Naughty & Nice List that includes a jolly festive update for Dota 2’s nice players and a permaban for the tens of thousands of naughty players and smurf accounts.
The company mentioned the crackdown on smurf accounts in a hilariously brutalblog postdetailing this year’s winter-themed Frostivus update. “You might remember back in September, we got out the ban hammer and permanently banned 90,000 smurf accounts,” the post reads.
Since then, Valve has continued monitoring behavior and is now “engaged in an even more aggressive ban wave, including many tens of thousands of smurf account bans today alone.” It’s Santa versus the Smurfs, then.
For those who are yet unsmurfed, smurfing refers to the act of creating multiple accounts, usually in competitive games to score easy wins against lower-level players.
“And smurfing isn’t even the only naughty thing players are getting up to,” the blog continues, citing bad behavior and paid behavior score farmers as other issues. “Regardless of how you’ve been naughty, we’ve been watching you (not while you’re sleeping, calm down) and we’re cracking down on all of it. Punishments will be handed out for all of the above, including behavior score penalties — and in serious cases, main account bannings.”
Valve explains that the permaban hammer is coming down so hard because “smurfing (and other negative behavior) makes matches worse,” and the company wants to move into the new year with a clean slate. “We’d like to wish everyone a Happy Frostivus Update,” says Valve, “except smurf accounts, who we assume will not enjoy the update as they choke on their richly-deserved coal-flavored just desserts.” Ouch.
On the naughty list? Check out the otherbest MOBAsavailable right now.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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