“Trusted Launch” Is the New Anti-cheat Option by Valve for CS:GO

Valve has released “Trusted Launch” which is an optional, enhanced security feature for CS:GO, battling with cheaters.

Trusted Launch for CS:GO to Battle with Cheaters  

An exciting optional security update was introduced to CS:GO. The developers released “Trusted Launch” which is aiming at reducing cheaters in CS:GO. “Trusted Launch” is a new initiative, which enhances security in the game. Released as a beta last week, the optional setting is working together with Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC).

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released back in 2012. By now the game has seen much development and many new features. Back in December, 2018, the game was changed to free-to-play. But even before the change, cheaters have always managed to find a way to ruin the fun for regular players. With that being said, this most recent update will likely reduce the number of cheaters, although it’s still a beta.

Along with the announcement, CS:GO developers have released instructions on how users can gain access to the beta, prior to its official release. Any user that wants to get access to “Trusted Launch” can go to CS:GO beta depots and opt for it.

How Does Trusted Launch Work?

As noted, the optional enhanced security “Trusted Launch” works together with the VAC anti-cheating system. While VAC takes a more general approach, when it comes to screening, “Trusted Launch” focuses on CS:GO itself. The optional security monitors the files and processes related to the game. The optional setting can be turned on and off by the users. When turned on, “Trusted Launch” will be scrutinizing the processes and files related to CS:GO on the player’s system. If everything is well, the player won’t see any difference when playing. In the event that “Trusted Launch” finds a third-party program or a file that may be incompatible – the player will be prompted with a warning message. If the player chooses to still try and join the game, at a later period, the access to VAC-secured servers may be blocked.

According to news outlets, “Trusted Launch” may be operating in a similar way to “Vanguard” which is the anti-cheat system for the shooter Valorant by Riot Games. This however is not entirely true as “Vanguard” operates at a kernel level. “Trusted Launch” on the other hand is currently an optional enhanced security feature that can be switched off in the event that players face issues using it.

“Trusted Launch” Another CS:GO Feature Preceded by Prime Status

Efforts to eliminate cheaters’ presence in CS:GO have not stopped, which is actually a good thing. Preceding “Trusted Launch”, the game developers introduced the Prime status in the game. The prime status was received by all players who have owned the game for 5 years before becoming free-to-play. The new users could either purchase the Prime status from the market or level up their CS:GO profile to level 21. Prime status also linked the CS:GO profile of the player to a phone number, which is another method for enhanced security. If all players in one competitive lobby would be with Prime status, the game would search for another Prime lobby, which reduces the risk of cheaters joining.

Looking at the most recent enhanced security feature “Trusted Launch”, the developers might have a different thought. Keeping in mind that this is an optional security feature, the developers might be aiming at easing their efforts for player screening. In other words, if a player has enabled the feature, chances of that player cheating will be lower than with players that haven’t. Although this is not officially confirmed, such implementation might prove to be beneficial and ultimately reduce the number of cheaters in the game.