Valve bans 90,000 Dota 2 smurf accounts

Valve has taken multiple steps this year to ensure that Dota 2 games are of the highest quality possible. Whether it's banning professional players for unethical practices, or pub players who use Overwatch, Dota 2 is making great strides in ensuring everyone has a good time while playing games.

The latest update is another step in leveling the playing field, as Valve banned 90,000 Dota 2 smurfs, with promises to do more to curb smurfing in Dota 2.

What are Dota 2 smurfs?

A smurf is a beloved character from a kid's franchise. (Credit: Peyo)

For people wondering what a smurf is, it is a player who uses alternate accounts (usually lower ranked than their main account) to play Dota 2. This gives the team with a smurf an unfair advantage, as they are playing with a higher-skilled player.

Games with smurfs tend to be one-sided, without the opposing team having a chance to win. Smurfing in Dota 2 has been an issue for a long time and it's nice to see Valve move to address it.

To ensure there is no confusion on just what a smurf is, Valve added a description of it to their announcement.

"Smurf accounts are alternate accounts used by players to avoid playing at the correct MMR, to abandon games, to cheat, to grief, or to otherwise be toxic without consequence. "

Valve vows to ban main accounts as well as smurfs

As mentioned earlier, smurfs are alternate accounts that players use instead of their main account. One of the reasons smurfing is an issue is that players are more likely to grief their team while smurfing, justifying it as it is "not their main account."

Valve isn't looking to just remove alternate accounts, they also aim to make smurfing punishing for players who engage in the practice.

After announcing the ban on smurfs, Valve also stated that in the future, a player who engages in smurfing will not only have his smurf banned, but also his main account, significantly reducing the allure of using a smurf.

"We have traced every single one of these smurf accounts back to its main account. Going forward, a main account found associated with a smurf account could result in a wide range of punishments, from temporary adjustments to behavior scores to permanent account bans."

Tough punishments indeed. If you suspect a player in your game doesn't belong there, be sure to report them to alert Valve.

READ MORE: Dota 2 Meta Report: The International 12 Qualifiers Edition

Image source provided by: Valve