As AMD releases Anti-Lag 2, we look back at the original Anti-Lag+ technology which resulted in a host of VAC bans, and the hopes that the company will have for this new technology launches.
Anti-Lag+ and game bans
Announced in February, AMD presented its first Anti-Lag technology called Anti-Lag+. Set to be released alongside FSR3 and HYPR-RX, Anti-Lag+ was supposed to work at the driver level by eliminating the need for game integration. The launch did not go to plan as many of the games which were supposedly Anti-Lag+ compatible became tangled up in issues. In particular, issues that would result in users being banned from games like Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. As a result, AMD was forced to backpedal and remove the Anti-Lag+ from new drivers.
The introduction of Anti-Lag 2
In order to re-write their wrongs, AMD has now announced Anti-Lag 2. This entirely new Anti-Lag technology requires a new driver, and some major changes have now taken place. Integration is now available on a game-by-game basis, instead of the sweeping driver-based support Anti-Lag+ aimed to provide. AMD has now partnered with Valve, meaning the technology is specified to work on their games and has been thoroughly tested to ensure this (and stop a surprise VAC ban), starting with CS2.
Find below some of the major changes that the Anti-Lag 2 technology will have on games like Counter-Strike 2. As you can see it will lower latency on a range of GPUs and at a range of video quality. Additionally, this also shows it is not only a rebranded version of the original Anti-Lag, but a major improvement on it. Counter-Strike 2 is the first major title to be implemented with Anti-Lag and the table below demonstrates its seamless integration.
Anti-Lag 2 is supported on Radeon RX 5000/6000 GPUs and Ryzen 6000 iGPUs, with its predecessor only being available on RDNA 3 GPUs. Let’s explain a little more about what this tech can do. Anti-Lag 2 works between the GPU and CPU, slowing down the CPU to prevent it from overloading the GPU with data transfers. This reduces wait times and makes your game feel more responsive, letting your actions appear on screen faster.
You can enable this feature in AMD’s software for most games. But since Anti-Lag 2 now requires in-game implementation, it does require game developers to add it to their games, with Counter-Strike 2 being the first and only supported game at the time of writing. We expect many more to follow.
