AMD retracts gaming feature after getting players banned
AMD
AMD has released a new graphics driver update that disables its newly introduced Anti-Lag+ technology in all supported games. The latest graphics driver (23.10.2) is a follow-up to 23.10.1, which launched almost a week ago and introduced Anti-Lag+ for Counter-Strike 2.
AMD has confirmed via the official release notes that the reason for disabling the anti-lag tech is due to recent reports about certain online games that were identifying Anti-Lag+ as a hacking tool, which then resulted in player bans. AMD also said that it is actively working with game developers and hopes to find a solution to reenable Anti-Lag+ and reinstate gamers who were impacted by the anti-cheat bans.
Counter-Strike game developer Valve had also warned gamers on its social media channel about the recent bans. “AMD’s latest driver has made their ‘Anti-Lag/+’ feature available for CS2, which is implemented by detouring engine DLL functions. If you are an AMD customer and play CS2, DO NOT ENABLE ANTI-LAG/+; any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban” said Valve on Twitter (formerly X).
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Anti-Lag+ is a recent version of AMD’s Anti-Lag tech that aims to reduce the time between frames being issued by the CPU and when they get displayed on the monitor, generally improving how responsive the game feels. Available with AMD’s graphics software, Anti-Lag+ functions by integrating itself into the game’s code to oversee the synchronization of frames within the render queue. It seems surprising that AMD did not thoroughly test the feature before making the technology available to a broader user base.
Despite its intentions, the company should have collaborated with game developers to circumvent this issue, as it is common knowledge that anti-cheat systems scrutinize a game’s DLLs for any signs of tampering. AMD could have easily prevented such issues from arising by asking game developers to include Anti-Lag+ in the whitelist of approved software for anti-cheat systems.
For now, we highly recommend updating to the latest driver update from AMD’s official website to avoid any bans.
