Valve has just unveiled a new Trade Protection scheme for Steam, designed to help users who have lost control of their account. The new scheme, which is currently only available in Counter-Strike 2, protects items for 7 days after you’ve received them in a trade, and you can reverse the trade within these 7 days. Items that are Trade Protected and “cannot be consumed, modified, or transferred” during this period.

The trading market on Counter-Strike 2 is massive. It has been that way since CS:GO, and you’ve probably heard about the ridiculous amounts of cash people have sold their rare knives for over the years. It was the same case for Team Fortress 2 back in the day, though CS soon took over in terms of popularity (and profitability).

Trade Protection is here for Counter-Strike 2 traders

A new Steam Support post explains all you need to know about Trade Protection. Valve says that “In the unlikely event that you lose control of your account due to malware or phishing,” the scheme gives you 7 days to reverse any trades that include Trade Protection items. Of course, that only relates to CS2 right now, but Valve plans to extend support in the future.

What is Trade Protection?

Trade Protection is a feature some games support that allow you to reverse recent trades, designed to help if you lost items after losing control of your account.

When a trade involving items from a game supporting Trade Protection is confirmed, the items are delivered immediately, and you can equip and play with them in-game.

For the next 7 days, the items are considered Trade Protected, and cannot be consumed, modified, or transferred. Once the 7 day period expires, the Trade Protected status expires, and the trade can no longer be reversed.

Source: Steam

If your account does get hacked, then you’ll need to regain control via Steam Support within those 7 days to reclaim any Trade Protected items. Do note that if you reverse any trades, you will be locked out of trading and using the Steam Community Market for the next 30 days.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.