New Valve rule permits players with over 5-year-old VAC bans to play at CS:GO Majors

Players punished long ago get a second chance.

Image via Valve

With the return of CS:GO Majors just half a year away, Valve has made a change to its eligibility rules regarding players who have received VAC bans.

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Valve announced today that players will only be disqualified from Valve-sponsored events if the player received a VAC ban less than five years ago.

Valve acknowledged that some VAC bans are up to eight years old now and felt a change was needed heading into the next era of Majors. For players like Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, it’s a bittersweet feeling. He had been disqualified from Valve-sponsored events due to a VAC-banned account connected to him and he spent a lot of time and resources attempting to clear his name and restore his promising career.

Just months prior to this rule change, he officially retired from competitive CS:GO and signed with Team Liquid’s VALORANT roster. But he celebrated the news on Twitter today, prompting several members of the CS:GO community, including players and organizations, to already start welcoming him back.

One of the biggest winners after this new rule is Vinicius “⁠vsm⁠” Moreira, a Brazilian player who was VAC-banned in 2013. Most recently, he was loaned to MIBR to close out their 2020 campaign after several roster moves. And now, the 21-year-old has a plethora of opportunities re-opened up for him.

The road to the PGL Stockholm Major starts with the first Regional Major Rankings events in May. Flashpoint 3 will be the first opportunity for European teams to earn points, while North American teams can do so at cs_summit 8.

Author
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Scott Robertson
VALORANT lead staff writer, also covering CS:GO, FPS games, other titles, and the wider esports industry. Watching and writing esports since 2014. Previously wrote for Dexerto, Upcomer, Splyce, and somehow MySpace. Jack of all games, master of none.