Counter Strike 2 dishes out drastic leaver penalties, even when it’s not your fault

Those jumping into ranked matches in Counter Strike 2 beware! Leaving mid-game will result in drastic leaver penalties for those hoping to sour up the ranks, even for those who are kicked, suffer technical difficulties, or have the game straight-up crash on them.

Once you’ve finished your 10 placement games, winning a ranked game against players of similar skill in Counter Strike 2 will net your roughly 100 ranked points. However, leaving a game for any reason will remove a staggering 1,000 points from your account. As such, you’ll need to win roughly 10 games in order to climb your way back up to your previous spot on the ladder.

On its face, this is a great addition to the game, right? People leaving super-competitive multiplayer games like Counter Strike 2 is incredibly frustrating, especially for those genuinely trying to make their way to the top of the ranked mountain. However, the reality right now is that some players removed from games are at no fault, and the system is liable for abuse from naughty team mates.

For one, Counter Strike 2 has stability issues right now. Even those with incredibly powerful rigs are being disconnected from live matches due to bugs right now. If they’re unable to reconnect in time, they have no choice but to tank the leaver penalty.

Then there’s the trolling factor. In Counter Strike 2, your team can vote to kick a member of the team if they’re proving toxic, especially useless, etc. This is all well and good, unless you’re a solo player being matched up with a four-stack of mischievious fellas looking for a jolly at your expense. Four players can vote to kick their fifth squadmate, even if they’re doing nothing wrong.

This is all going down a treat among the community, of course. Various players are venting online over kicks resulting in drastic negative penalties. One went as far as to call it a “complete joke” on Reddit, dubbing it a “clown-queue” right now until it improves.

It’s a shame too, as CS2 otherwise seems to be incredibly popular right now, with many flocking back to the series to revel in its particular brand of tactical gameplay (with lovely new visuals too of course). This only adds to a growing sense of mourning for CS:GO among some people, who aren’t quite vibing with this new age of Counter Strike.

What are your thoughts on these leaver penalties? Are they fair? Or should they be toned down until changes are made to the system? Let us know below!