News Summary

• It's less of a jolly holiday for those who've been placed on Valve's Naughty List, however: King Kringle is now doing the rounds with his ban hammer to "pulverise the smurf accounts of all the naughty boys and girls, before handing out penalties to their associated main accounts.".
• Accordingly, Valve says its latest crackdown on cheaters has resulted in "many tens of thousands of smurf account bans" in the last day alone - but it's the way it's been handing out those bans that can't help but raise a chuckle..
• "As we've said before," Valve adds in its Frostivus update release notes, "smurfing (and other negative behaviour) makes matches worse, and we want to make sure your matches are as good as possible as we head into the new year..
• Cheaters who've found their way onto Valve's Naughty List have (thanks PC Gamer) been firing up their game in the last few days only to receive a festive gift that, once opened, reveals itself to be a "Highly Toxic Lump of Coal"..
• DOTA 2's annual Frostivus celebrations are now officially underway, meaning everyone on Valve's Nice List - as per its Frostivus 2023 update announcement - can look forward to various festive treats and quality of life improvements..
• "If you're on the Naughty List, we've got great news for everybody else and bad news for you," Valve explains, "because this year is gonna be a bloodbath.".