

The Armory Exploit – Valve Executes Trade Bans for Deathmatch XP Exploiters
It took a year of waiting for CS2’s first operation(2.5 years if you count the wait during CS:GO), but it only took a few days for players to discover a way to exploit the new CS2 operation to maximize their rewards. However, contrary to their inaction regarding scammers and cheaters in the game, Valve responded almost immediately to the exploit by handing down a trade ban wave to all exploiters. Let’s dive into the Armory exploit and Valve’s response in the form of a trade ban wave.
Click the button for a complete guide on CS2's first operation: The Armory
What was the Armory Exploit?
We won’t go into much detail about how the exploit was executed, but we will cover the exploit and its controversy at a surface level. The exploit allowed players to join private deathmatch lobbies with friends and “farm” XP to quickly level up the armory pass to receive CS2 operation rewards. If the exploiters claimed Gallery Cases, and the cases sold for at least $0.75, then the exploiters could constantly redeem the cases, purchase new passes, and repeat, creating somewhat of an infinite money printing glitch.
The exploit created a controversy among the community. While some players felt that it was excusable to abuse the exploit as it was Valve’s fault, didn’t affect the gameplay experience of other players, and was “not for profit”(which was the case only for some streamers that abused the exploit), many were upset by the abuse of the exploit. Players were especially upset with large public figures like streamers and other content creators, who promoted the exploit to thousands of viewers.
Valve Responds with Trade Bans

Quickly responding to the exploits, Valve handed down one-year trade bans to exploiters. After this update, those found exploiting the glitch have been given a trade cooldown/restriction, which prevents them from receiving or sending trade offers, including skins, in their Steam inventory until October 1st, 2025. The banned players can receive trades for other users’ items, but if a trade offer is sent, including skin from the banned player’s inventory, it will immediately be canceled.
Players will also be unable to sell the skins in their inventory on the Steam Community Market, meaning they will be unable to receive any form of currency, both on Steam or in real-world currency from trading sites, for the skins they gained from the exploit, until Oct 1st of next year. Players will be forced to hold any item claimed from the update for 12 months; they will be locked in their Steam inventory.
What Do The Armory Exploit Bans Mean for CS2 Operation Skins?

Since no skins from The Armory are tradeable at the time the bans are being handed down and this article is being written, it is unknown how this will affect the price or volume of CS2 operation skins. While some speculate that the bans will result in a much lower volume of operation skins on the market, this will likely result in only a small decrease in the overall volume, as the vast majority of players did not abuse the exploit. However, it remains to be seen how these items will be priced on the Steam Community Market and third-party marketplaces and whether or not these bans will significantly impact their value.
Conclusion – Don’t Exploit the CS2 Operation if you Value your Steam Account!
If you value all of the features of your Steam account and your ability to trade, then this ban wave should provide more than enough reasons not to exploit this CS2 operation. Play for fun and play legitimately, or risk losing much more than you stand to gain…
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