- Hearing loss is a serious issue faced by many CS:GO players
- One professional seeks to address the problem by making a specialized program
- It reduces dangerous flashbang volumes when detected, and is VAC-secured
Professional CS:GO player Patrik Žúdel, a.k.a. Zero, recently released a new version of his software that aims to reduce the likelihood of hearing loss.
Explosions in Games Can Cause Hearing Damage
Any gamer, be they professional or not, that spends a lot of time wearing a headset and listening to often times very loud in-game sounds, has the chance of experiencing hearing loss. This is why 23-year old professional CS:GO player Patrik “Zero” Žúdel has been raising awareness of how the flashbang from the game can damage one's hearing. “The Flashbang sound frequency (2600hz) and loudness is a real issue,” he writes.
According to Zero, this sound frequency and loudness of the flashbang can supposedly trigger tinnitus, which means a person would hear buzzing constantly or recurringly and is linked to hearing damage. To try and ameliorate the problem, Zero, who is also studying Computer Science, has created a hearing protection software that strives to reduce the odds of hearing damage.
How Does the Program Work?
Many players, professional or otherwise, often play CS:GO with the volume high up, so they can hear enemy footsteps. A problem arises when one is flashed. Zero’s program automatically lowers the game’s volume when it detects a flashbang, reducing the player’s exposure to potentially dangerous volume levels. “PatrikZero's CS:GO Hearing Protection 1.1 Released! It has been verified as safe by Faceit!” wrote Zero on the day of his product’s release.
Zero does not that the software will work at 100%, but it will surely make CSGO sounds less aggressive and annoying. “It took me nine years of playing to develop tinnitus, and I was playing at a reasonable volume,” said Zero. “I am no expert, but I suspect this is due to a build-up of small periods of very high volume.”
Having rolled out the first version of the program, the CS:GO plans to add volume tweaks for more CSGO audio files in future updates. One important thing to note is that the program is VAC-secured and not considered a hack, therefore you can play in the game’s official servers and not get banned for running it. In a way, it is somewhat similar to performance-enhancing sportswear, which is already in common use by many pros.
It is still unknown if Valve will do something on its own to address the volume problem, but for now, players, who want to try out Zero's program, can download it from here.
