I thought the most toxic gamers in Counter-Strike 2 portals were kids, but I was so wrong.

There’s always been something different about FPS lobbies full of toxic 12-year-olds using a bunch of racial slurs and screaming so offensively that you’re forced to silence them, destroying communication and team strategy. I myself have been involved in this many times, so I can agree to believe that children and the most dangerous age group in competitive sports.

But I would be wrong.

FACEIT recently analyzed 155,680 bans on the platform during the last 12 months and found that the most toxic players Counter-Strike 2 they are much older than you would expect.

On X (formerly Twitter), FACEIT shared their findings with the CS2 community. In a chart showing bans per 1,000 accounts by age, the most banned age group was 28-year-olds.

In fact, the chart shows that CS2 players aged 13 to 17 have very few 1,000 account bans. Poison continues to grow as players age, peaking at 28. At age 29, the number of bans per 1,000 accounts starts to decrease, although not significantly. As someone who is about to turn 35 myself, I was shocked to see that there are more banned 35 year olds than 13 year olds.

What are you guys doing? I will not really condone the poison in the middle. I would still block them. But at least they have a built-in excuse: their brains aren’t fully developed. No matter how smart they think they are for abusing female players, you’d think they’re doing this because their brains aren’t fully formed. They are dumb.

But your brain should be fully developed by 28. OK? For women, this can happen even after 25 years. Male brains may not fully develop until age 30. This might explain it. Over 90% of competitive Counter-Strike 2 players are male.

The comments also confirm that the FACEIT study was accurate. Accounts from gamers who may be older say the younger generation “didn’t have testosterone” as the reason they didn’t bully and abuse people in Counter-Strike 2. I guess testosterone would make you rage uncontrollably, which might explain the catcalling too.

Another added: “Is it toxic or just a new strain that’s mild AF?”

Most players seem to agree that it’s a production thing. Apparently, men in their 20s and 30s are just raised to be tired and annoying. Others point to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Halo, and Call of Duty lobbies back in the day (like the early 2000s). He was celebrating many racist things! Tons of offensive slurs! Tons of offensive sexism! These kids just don’t get it. They are in their safe party discussions with friends. They don’t know what it’s like to harass a bunch of strangers online!

Some players feel that there are more toxic older gamers than younger toxic gamers based on level. If there are older players in the top teams, the games may be more intense, and there may be more cheaters and other frustrations. Some people just think that old people are very angry because they have to pay taxes and so on.

Whatever the reason, it’s sad that this poison exists at all. And that gamers normalize it as part of the experience. We all know the whole “just shut them up” argument, but why are there so many annoying people to begin with? Why can’t people be expected to behave normally in the game? It’s almost as if we’re playing to enjoy the experience and get better, not to hear random chud opinions about trans women and immigrants.

Some people just like to hear themselves talk.

On that note, enjoy this new insight. It better explains why we still have professional players who occasionally talk and say racial slurs on broadcast. But don’t worry, they will retire soon when they turn 28.