Professional players will be banned from using Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s new character models. The agents, which were added as part of the game’s Operation Shattered Web, have been banned by the likes of FACEIT, ESEA, and ESL as a number of visibility issues have been cited.
Instead of using one of the 22 agents added to the game, players will now only be able to sue the standard Counter-Terrorist and Terrorist models when competing in a competitive setting all because some of the agents blend in with the environment.
Most of the CT models boast a variant of green camouflage, which can cause a lot of headaches on the newly reworked Cache or in certain areas on Overpass. In fact, Shawn ‘FMPONE’ Snelling, one of the original level designers on Cache, called the new agents “game-breaking” on Twitter.
The tournament organisers have decided to ban the use of custom models, and therefore only sanction the use of the default model, after speaking to the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA).
Casual players can continue to use the models in ranked play, but it’ll be interesting to see if Valve will rework some of the models – or at least change the colour of their camouflage – to address the growing concern online.
