No game is perfect and there are often small bugs and imperfections that make them what they are, some can be tiny like small graphical glitches or little map faults that players find here and there, but others can be much more substantial. Whilst some of these bugs are reviled by the community, others become instant favorites that stick around for years.
We’re going to take a look at some of the biggest bugs in esports, whether they’ve become fan favorites or infamous, and the impact they’ve had on the games they’ve been present in.
Bunnyhopping – This term has become colloquialized across a huge number of games, but first emerged in the early days of Quake as players improved their movement and used bunny hopping to move around the map extremely quickly. It rose to prevalence through Counter-Strike, becoming a beloved feature in the 1.6 version of the game and finding its way into Counter-Strike: Source too. Whilst some players hated this movement feature, others loved it, so much so that mods like zBlock were even created to block players from being able to do this during tournaments and events.
Whilst bunny hopping does still exist in games like Counter-Strike and Valorant, it has little to no impact with gaining speed anymore, and something that looks to be phased out in future games.
Titan Skating – Destiny fans will be all too familiar with titan skating, something that follows the same line as bunny hopping but has some additional steps required to complete successfully. Ultimately, the effect gained was still the same, players that were skilled enough to do the mechanic would be able to gain a huge amount of speed and cover a large part of the map in a short period of time. Where bunny hopping was largely loved by the community, titan skating was one of those mechanics that were reviled, and in large the Destiny community disliked titan skating.
Russian Walking/Crouch Running – Another mechanic found in Counter-Strikes 1.6 version, and one that was hugely prevalent particularly towards the end of the games lifespan. It was quite a controversial topic at the time, players who bet on esports at options like these or watched any old 1.6 game will be all too familiar with player models bouncing up and down as tapping crouch would make the character “bounce”, making footsteps less audible and the hitbox a little wonky. Whilst using mouse wheel to do this mechanic was banned, manually doing it with a crouch button was allowed, and it became a mainstay in the 1.6 version of CS. Different crouch bugs have been found in many other games since, but have been cracked down on very quickly.
One-way smokes – One ways fall into a bit of a strange category depending on the game they’re present in, but this is mostly found in Counter-Strike and Valorant. In CS:GO specifically, throwing smoke grenades in a very specific way or on top of a Molotov could create a situation where player A could see through a gap in the smoke, but that same gap didn’t exist for player B, giving a huge advantage in the one way. In Valorant, as smokes can be placed in a more direct way, one way smokes have been a core part of the game since its release, and for many can be seen as a feature. Whether or not you like the addition of one ways likely depends on whether you’re the one using them, or the victim of them.
Bugs will always be a part of modern gaming, and some will always be loved by the fans who are able to master and used the bug, and hated by those who aren’t quite as able to get the hang of them, which bugs are your favorites in gaming and which do you think should be brought back?
