A ban from Valve has sparked a discussion about the PC gaming platform Steam, as Valve has banned St4ck, the user with the highest Steam level in the world: 5001. This is a controversial person, suspected of having cheated other players. He acquired his high level in 2021 by spending huge amounts of money. Additionally, St4ck is a trader of skins in Counter-Strike 2, whose inventory is worth 1.4 million euros.
Which account is it about?
- St4ck is an account with a Steam level of 5001 – he had long held 5000 until the German Twitch streamer OhnePixel made it a joke to ruin his “round number”.
- St4ck made a name for himself in 2021 by spending $240,000 to buy level 5000 on Steam: this person is allegedly from Qatar and belongs to the royal family there (via win.gg). He increased his notoriety with giveaways.
- Furthermore, St4ck is a well-known trader of skins in Counter-Strike 2, and his inventory was estimated to be worth around 1.38 million euros at the time of his ban.
This was his ban: The player received a community ban at 12:20 AM on October 5. As a result, he could no longer trade items from his valuable inventory. We also reported on this ban on MeinMMO.
However, he was unbanned after just 17 hours on the same day.
Valve did not give a reason for the community ban.
Ban sparks Pay2Win discussion
about Steam
What is the discussion? Some had assumed St4ck was banned due to accusations circulating against his account. It is said on YouTube that St4ck cheated other players while trading skins in CS:GO.
It is said that he did not pay for items received. The dispute amount is $30,000.
Players who believe he was banned for cheating celebrated the ban. They now see the “unbanning” after just a few hours as evidence that Valve spares those players who bring them so much money.
The rapid unbanning would prove that Steam is “Pay2Win”.
What do others say? On Reddit, however, many users contradict this thesis: the user was not banned for cheating but merely received a short suspension for comments on Steam.
It is quite normal for this ban to lapse after a few hours. There is no basis for Pay2Win allegations against Steam.
Furthermore, the scam allegations are not substantiated and are merely slander from people who are envious of the account and wealth of the trader.
We reported on St4ck on MeinMMO in 2019, at that time he had “only” a Steam level of 4,000.
Crazy player reaches Steam level 4,000, costing only about 220,000€
