Valve delivers Dota 2 players perma ban as Christmas gift with new Frostivus update

As part of the Frostivus Christmas celebration, Valve is giving some Dota 2 players a very unusual gift: a gift-wrapped permanent ban from playing the game.

In what the company has dubbed a “bloodbath,” Valve is ruthlessly eliminating Dota 2 smurf accounts. Together with the newly released Frostivus 2023 update, Valve is giving Dota 2 users—including professional players of the immensely popular MOBA—a surprise present. Some players were fortunate enough to acquire cosmetics, but others suffered the consequences of receiving a Toxic Lump of Coal—a permanent ban from Dota 2.

Valve’s unique way to ban players surprises former Dota 2 pro

Players are getting a unique seasonal gift called a Frostivus Gift in their armory during Valve’s holiday event, which is part of Dota 2’s most recent update, Frostivus. Players, however, are unaware that the gift, which is falsely presented as a “seasonal reward, contains a lump of coal that can result in a permanent ban if the player is involved in unethical activities.

Some players received a formal warning from the Toxic Lump of Coal, emphasizing that further suspicious action would result in an impending suspension. Nonetheless, Valve permanently banned the people who received the “Highly Toxic Lump of Coal” gift.

The most prominent instance of a permanent ban was Mason “mason” Venne, a former professional Dota 2 player, who on Thursday streamed the reveal of his Frostivus Gift on Twitch. MasonDota2 discovered his Dota 2 account has been permanently banned after receiving a “Highly Toxic Lump of Coal” as a gift.

Valve has permanently banned Dota 2 streamer “Mason” for high levels of toxicity by getting him to open a Christmas gift which was just a lump of coal and his ban 😂

Never seen anything like this pic.twitter.com/YZzSZlBKhu

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) December 15, 2023

 

Following his initial surprise, Mason broke down in tears upon learning that he would be forever barred from the game he had spent the previous 13 years playing. On the official Dota 2 subreddit, MasonDota 2 continued to attempt to justify his actions by saying that in his 13 years of playing Dota, he has never been cheated on or mistreated in any way.

However, he did admit to purchasing a behavior score booster, which he only used once every ten days before feeling bad about it and getting rid of it.

Although many are surprised by this action, Valve has already informed gamers that cheats will be targeted harshly this year. No matter how nasty a player has been, Valve has declared that they will penalize them because they want matches to be as enjoyable and clean as possible by the time 2024 rolls around. More than 90,000 accounts linked to smurfing were banned earlier in September 2023 and more will follow before the year ends.

Header: Valve