AMD reveals Anti-Lag 2 tech with Counter-Strike 2 support

Rebecca Hills-Duty

AMD has reintroduced its Anti-Lag technology in Counter-Strike 2 thanks to a partnership with Valve.

Back in 2023, an AMD update rolled out for RDNA 3 graphics cards that introduced a new feature called Anti-Lag. As you may guess from the name, its purpose was to reduce latency for players in various fast-paced games.

Since the feature functioned at the driver level, Valve’s Anti-Cheat flagged it as cheat software, causing a wave of players to receive VAC bans in games such as Counter-Strike 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, among others. Valve managed to un-ban affected players, but AMD was forced to pull the driver, and therefore the Anti-Lag+ feature.

AMD has now announced that Anti-Lag will be making its return, now named Anti-Lag 2. To ensure there is no repeat performance of the VAC ban problems, AMD has worked closely with Valve to ensure the driver functions have all been thoroughly tested. The new version of Anti-Lag requires game integration and is already available as a technical preview in Counter-Strike 2.

AMD Anti-Lag comparison chart

AMD Anti-Lag 2 supports a wider range of GPUs, including Radeon RX 5000 and 6000 cards, along with Ryzen 6000 iGPUs. The previous version was only functional with GPUs based on RDNA3.

If you have a suitable AMD Radeon graphics card and wish to try out the feature in Counter-Strike 2, you will need to download and install the AMD Software Adrenaline Edition 24.5.1 for Anti-Lag 2 Technical preview driver from the AMD website.

Users who choose to try out Anti-Lag 2 using the preview driver are encouraged to submit feedback on the performance of the driver and the Anti-Lag 2 feature using the Bug Report Tool.

AMD is yet to confirm what other games, if any, will be receiving Anti-Lag 2 integration.