Valve makes smurfing in Dota 2 a bannable offence

Some players love to create a new account and smash some newbies in Dota 2, or any other game really. When a game has matchmaking and is competitive, smurfs will be a thing. For those who haven’t realised yet, smurfing in Dota 2 is now a bannable offence, as Valve has clamped down on the practice following the launch of their new player experience.

Valve bans Dota 2 smurfs

Before the latest Dota 2 update, Valve attempted to detect smurf accounts in Dota 2. They would then move these accounts to the correct MMR as quickly as possible. However, according to Valve, some cases of smurfing still caused damage. Smurfing in Dota 2 is now a bannable offence but thankfully, those who previously smurfed should be okay.

Valve explains:

“We will primarily focus on new accounts created after today for which we have high confidence in their smurfing and game-ruining behaviour. Moreover, we will also occasionally manually ban old pre-existing accounts that are clearly game-ruining.”

It isn’t just smurfing that Valve is looking at. The developer also warns players that those who engage in boosting, selling accounts, or any similar game-ruining behaviours might also get their primary accounts banned. Furthermore, Valve urges players to report those suspected of smurfing. This can be done in the new post-game report option.

Those who are only suspected of smurfing in Dota 2 have a higher chance to now matchmake with other smurfs until Valve can properly judge the case.

Smurfs in Dota 2 is nothing new. However, it appears Valve wants to clamp down on smurfing to make the new player experience better. It remains to be seen how effective the developer will be at detecting smurf accounts.

The TLDR version: If you are a seasoned Dota 2 player, don’t create a new account to stomp newbies.

Header image via Valve.