Valve bans Counter-Strike 2 from using the 'Snap Tap' feature on gaming keyboards


by D-Kuru

Valve has issued a statement banning the use of features built into gaming keyboards made by manufacturers such as Razer and Wooting in the popular game Counter-Strike 2 .

Counter-Strike 2 - Side-Stepping Skills - Steam News
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/730/view/6500469346429600836



Valve bans Razer and Wooting's new keyboard features in Counter-Strike 2 - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/20/24224261/valve-counter-strike-2-razer-snap-tap-wooting-socd-ban-kick

The keyboard ' Huntsman V3 Pro ' released by Razer in 2023 introduces a feature called 'Snap Tap.' This is a feature that allows you to 'prioritize the last key input when the opposite directional key is input after the directional key is input.'

Normally, if you input the right direction and then input the left direction without releasing your finger, right and left will be input at the same time. In this case, the result is a neutral state in which 'neither direction is input.'

On the other hand, if you enable Snap Tap, if you input left while holding right, it will be recognized as a left input instead of going neutral. By completely eliminating the moment when it becomes neutral, you can instantly change the input direction in the game.



In addition to Razsr, gaming keyboard manufacturer Wooting also offers a similar feature to Snap Tap under the name 'SOCD.' This SOCD allows you to select from multiple input priority levels, which can be switched depending on the game.

This input priority is changed by peripherals, which are hardware rather than software, which has sparked debate in the world of FPS and fighting games as to whether this is hardware cheating. In fact, in the world of fighting games, there are cases where tournament officials have imposed rules to restrict the input priority of 'leverless controllers,' which have been on the rise in recent years.

Rules | Capcom Pro Tour - The Home of Street Fighter Esports
https://sf.esports.capcom.com/cpt/jp/rules/



Even in the world of FPS, there is a technique called 'Counter Strife' in which the direction of travel is suddenly changed and the player is stopped for a moment before shooting, so the priority of input acceptance has a big impact. Below is a movie comparing the shooting accuracy of Counter Strife using the snap tap function of Razer's Huntsman V3 Pro.



In response to these discussions, Valve said, 'Recently, some hardware features have created situations where the distinction between manual and automated inputs has become blurred. As a result, we have decided to clearly define what is and is not acceptable in Counter-Strike,' and 'We will not allow automation (whether scripted or hardware-based) that does not require basic skill. Going forward, (initially on official Valve servers) players suspected of automating multiple player actions from a single game input may be banned from matches.'

Valve does not prohibit the use of keyboards, but says that if you do not turn off the keyboard's snap tap mode before joining a match, the match may be interrupted. Valve also acknowledged that command scripts have become more acceptable in recent years, but has indicated that they will not allow jump throw binds or null binds in the future to prevent unexpected violations.

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in Hardware,   Video,   Game, Posted by log1i_yk