How Do You Raise Your Trust Factor in CS:GO?

Many CS:GO players have unfortunately run into problems in their matches: sometimes high toxicity, sometimes a lot of trouble from cheaters. This is the unfortunate reality of today's online multiplayer games, and there is no way around it. But the truth is that VALVE, even if quietly, is doing a great job of tackling these problems. One of the better updates of the last few years that helps overcome them was the introduction of Trust Factor. But what is Trust Factor and how can it help you? This article focuses on helping you improve your gaming experience and, hopefully, making you happier while playing the game we all love!

What Is Trust Factor?

Trust Factor is a hidden rating that VALVE first released in 2017, based on various factors and activities. It is not based only on CS:GO, though: it takes into account the player's entire Steam activity on the account. It aims to help players find matches with other players who have the same rating. Say you have a positive score: you are likely to be matched with similar players, which helps you have a better experience with fewer "bad" players.

Trust Factor is an extension of Prime Matchmaking. (This is the system that lets players link a phone number to their Steam account so that they play only with other "verified" accounts.)

VALVE has not published the full list of factors Trust Factor uses to calculate the final value, most likely to keep people from trying to mislead the system, but a few are known:

• The times you have been reported. Although not fully confirmed, it is suspected that this bad news affects the rating;
• Time spent playing CS:GO;
• Time spent playing other games on the account in question (as well as money spent on the account).

"But wait, I'm probably reported by other players many times," you might think. Sure, everyone gets falsely reported once or twice every other day, but my advice is to ignore it. You can't control it, and VALVE knows this too, so it must have been taken into account when building the Trust Factor algorithm.

There are other rumors, but these are purely speculation:

• The age of your Steam account;
• Team Damage dealt in matches and how many times you were kicked for it;
• Game and VAC bans on your account.

Keep in mind that when you play with other players, the system uses the lowest value among all players to find a match, so be careful when playing with more "toxic" players. Playing with these players won't give you a lower Trust Factor value, but you may receive more reports, so maybe avoid it if possible.

How Can You Improve Your Trust Factor?

Actually, you can't, at least not directly. This was in VALVE's FAQ section after Trust Factor was released:

Q: What can I do to improve my Trust Factor?

A: All you need to do is be a positive member of the CS:GO and Steam community. We are still iterating on the Trust Factor model and tuning the way the various factors are put together, but we want to make sure that all you need to do to improve your matchmaking experience is keep playing CS:GO and other Steam games legitimately. The more you play, the more information the system has, and the easier it is for the system to determine who you should be matched with.

As you can see, you can't just play the game differently to raise your Trust Factor score. What you can do, though, is be a positive presence for the community, and it will improve over time.

Similar to VAC, Trust Factor was an AI learning mechanic, meaning it will get better over time: it will be better able to identify behavior patterns and apply them to different players when making its calculations.