Notorious CS:GO YouTuber banned after years of cheating accusations

Connor Bennett

Popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive YouTuber Zuhn has been struck down by with a ban from Steam on at least two of his accounts.

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Valve dishes out VAC [Valve anti-cheat] bans to players who opt to use hacks in games like CS:GO that run on VAC-secured servers, which regularly scan for potential cheaters. Bans can be handed out on a case-by-case basis or in one sweeping ban wave that wipes out a regularly used exploit of some sort that has reared its head in-game.

However, game bans can also be handed out via overwatch (a system where fellow players can monitor suspicious behavior) or by the developers themselves. For Zuhn, it would appear that it was not VAC, but some other means of catching cheaters, that he fell foul of.

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ValvePlayers can be banned from CS:GO for a number of different reasons – but VAC ban cheats are the main reason.

Zuhn, who has been accused of cheating for some time, and allegedly uploaded videos demonstrating those exploits in the past, lost two accounts – YouTuber and ZuhnRawr – to game bans on May 27.

After receiving the bans, Zuhn wasn’t sure on the reasoning behind them, pleading his innocence by tweeting: “Welp. The only thing I can think to say right now is [a] false overwatch ban. It’s obvious I don’t cheat but we’ll see what happens. I don’t know what’s going on.”

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He followed up by referring to how another YouTuber named Foekroka received a VAC ban back in December of 2018, which was eventually overturned after an appeal and support from the community. Zuhn stated that he was absolutely certain that the black mark against his name would be taken away, too. 

The fact that both of his accounts received game bans at the same time has caused some CS:GO fans to assume that the ban was handed out manually by the developers rather than some sort of simple overwatch ban, but this is far from confirmed.

However, unlike Foekroka, it’s unlikely that Zuhn will receive the same level of community support considering the accusations put against him in the past. In fact, many members of the CS:GO scene seemed to revel in the fact that he was banned.

Popular community member DonHaci posted a screenshot of the account with the caption ‘pretends to be shocked’ attached.

The YouTuber even ran a poll, asking his followers if they believed he was a cheater. The ‘Yes’ option won by an overwhelming margin of 80% to 20%.

After more posts protesting his innocence, Zuhn posted screenshots of a private message conversation with a fan who believed he was being ‘report bottled.’ The viewer revealed that the YouTuber had received 132 reports against him but the in-game match ID that could explain why he had been banned was ultimately missing.

Will Zuhn be unbanned?

Despite the ban, nobody is quite sure of the reason behind it, despite the reasoning being a game ban. Valve can hand out suspensions in multiple games for multiple reasons – not just for potential hacking in CS:GO. 

Zuhn posted that it could be a ‘grief’ or an Overwatch ban – where veteran CS:GO players are tasked with uncovering cheaters by watching replays of matches with reports – which the game ban would give credence to, but even he doesn’t know for sure.

It remains to be seen if the YouTuber will have his ban overturned if it indeed turns out to be a false suspension. We will update this story as and when anything develops.

This post was last updated on Tuesday May 28 at 7:38 am Eastern Time.

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About The Author

Based out of Liverpool, Connor is Dexerto's UK News Editor having joined the website in 2018 with a degree in International Journalism. You can find him covering everything from CoD, GTA, FIFA, Apex Legends, and influencer boxing. Need to get in touch? Email Connor at Connor.Bennett@Dexerto.com