Valve lifts Fnatic star KRIMZ's mysterious CSGO VAC ban

February 2023 · 2 minute read

Valve has lifted the VAC ban on CSGO legend KRIMZ, and although fans think it was probably due to a matchmaking tool, the reasons are still unknown.

The CSGO community stood still on November 28 after Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson announced he had been VAC banned. Valve never specified why, which made the situation a bit of a mystery.

“It seems that my account got vac banned,” he said. “CSGO can you fix this asap pls.” It sounded like he was probably more confused than anyone else and was adamant he’d done nothing wrong.

It seems that my account got vac banned. @CSGO can you fix this asap pls 🙏🤔

— Freddy Johansson (@Krimz) November 28, 2020

CSGO fans think he might have been banned for using a third-party tool named esportal to find matches. However, there has been no official word to support it.

FNATIC coach Andreas “Samuelsson” Samuelsson issued a statement not long after. “We have reached out to Valve, TOs, and third-party community websites… to understand the nature of this unexpected shutdown,” he said. “We have no reason to believe this is the consequence of any intentional use of any illegal program.”

About Krimz VAC banned account. pic.twitter.com/ztEwun6Q0q

— Andreas Samuelsson (@SamuelssonCSGO) November 28, 2020

Either way, it didn’t take Valve long to rectify the issue. They’ve already lifted the ban, and it’s been a huge relief to CSGO players and FNATIC fans around the world.

The first one to spill the beans was ‘DonHaci.’ “Krimz has been unbanned,” he said. “His VAC ban has been removed from his Steam page.

Krimz has been unbanned, his VAC ban has been removed from his Steam page.https://t.co/KanSGcPRTu

— Haci (@DonHaci) December 1, 2020

KRIMZ’s Steam profile isn’t private, which means anyone can take a look and see for themselves. His fans have been pouring in and leaving comments to celebrate and share their relief.

Still, nobody is more excited than the man himself. KRIMZ made a brief statement on Twitter and expressed his gratitude for having it fixed. “I’m free [motherf**ers], he said. “Thank you CSGO for sorting it out quickly.”

Thank you @CSGO for sorting it out quickly 🙏

— Freddy Johansson (@Krimz) December 1, 2020

Interestingly, Valve still hasn’t explained why they banned KRIMMZ in the first place. KRIMMZ hasn’t elaborated on it either.

In the end, though, the key takeaway is that it appears to have been a mistake. The CSGO community is thrilled to have its favorite son back. 

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