VAC was Unable to Verify your Game Session

Counter-Strike Global Offence, which is also popular as CS: GO is one of the most enjoyed online multiplayer games amongst the gammers. You can also play this game on the gaming platform which is known as Steam. Unfortunately, based on recent reports, when the players are trying to play or open the game by joining Steam, they receive a “Vac was unable to verify your game session” error. 

Before getting to the solutions, you must know the probable causes behind this error. On the other hand, getting a brief knowledge about the Vac is also important. Vac basically stands for Valve anti-cheat system and as the name suggests, this function prevents dishonest gamers from using cheat codes in the game. 

The Vac also detects the installation of unknown anomalies in the game. Now, there are various reasons behind this issue. When you are playing honestly and encountering this issue, then there must be something wrong with the game configuration files. Sometimes, the game also shows the error as a false positive. To eliminate the error, all the best possible troubleshooting processes are given here. 

  1. Restart your Computer

    Restarting or rebooting your system will wipe out all the system registry blockades. Thus, you will be able to start the gaming platform and run the game without any hassle. If you are using Windows OS, then there is a shortcut to restart the system. Just press Ctrl+F4, the shutdown shortcut will appear. 

    There will be a drop-down menu listing – Shut down, Restart, Sleep, Hibernate and others. The Hibernate function varies from different manufacturers. Choose Restart and press the Enter key. After the computer boots up, hopefully, the reported error “Vac was unable to verify your game session” will not occur again, as you will start a new session of gaming. 

    If the process of restart doesn’t work, then you can shut down your computer. After shutting down the computer, unplug the cables and then again replug it. Wait for some time and then start the computer again.

  2. Reboot Steam

    Steam is a gaming platform where most people play CS: GO. But, often due to certain tech glitches, the “Vac was unable to verify your game session” error appears. So, end the session and close the game. In addition to that, close the Steam client too. Refresh your Windows Explorer and once again, start the client. When the game starts, check whether the Vac game session error still persists or not.

  3. Logout and Login Once Again

    Staying in the Steam account for a longer period of time can result in Session timeouts. When a session is complete, there are no active sessions remaining in the game. So, after playing for a certain amount of time, you need to log out of the Steam account. Wait for some time and once again log in. As a result, you will be starting a new gaming session. 

  4. Grant the Admin Rights to the Client

    As the Steam client is the platform where you are playing the CS: GO, it needs the admin rights to perform smoothly, without any errors. When admin rights are not present, the Vac might not be unable to verify your game session error. Therefore, open the system drive and access the Steam folder. You will be able to see the CS: Go subfolder. Open it, right-click on the setup file and run it as an admin. Check if the game is running. Now, close the game and once again open it via Steam. 

  5. Mend the Steam Client

    When the Steam client is facing a problematic situation, you must repair it. Maybe the repair process will wipe out the “Vac was unable to verify your game session” error. Just open the Command Prompt, type “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\SteamService.exe /repair”. The process might take a few minutes. So, wait until it’s complete. 

  6. Delete and re-download the Steam System Files

    Open the Command Prompt. After that type the following commands that are given below:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\csgo\maps\workshop. 

    This command will delete every item in the folder. If you are confused, then open the desired folder, select all the files, press Ctrl+A and delete them. 

    Now, open Steam and again download the system files, using the internet. If even after this the “Vac was unable to verify your game session” error, then turn to the Command Prompt once again. Now, type these commands as given below:

    Start steam://flushconfig

    ipconfig/release

    ipcnonfig/renew

    These commands will delete and renew the entire Steam folder as well as the files in it. 

  7. Stop other Background Applications

    The priority clash often takes place when the background applications are active. Therefore, you need to close them. The Task Manager will help you to do that. Open it and locate the following services as they are given below:

    • VMnetDHCP
    • VMUSBArbService
    • VMware NAT Service
    • VMwareHostd
    • VMAuthdService
    • hshld

    You need to close all these processes to save the usage of the volatile memory, as well as the hard disk drive. If still, the “Vac was unable to verify your game session” error persists, then there is yet another option. Find out another list of processes that are given below and end the processes: 

    • hydra.exe
    • hsswd.exe
    • hsscp.exe
    • vmware.exe

    Hopefully, now you will be able to solve the issue. 

An Important Fact….

Experts also cannot deny the fact that if your system is infected with a virus or other kinds of malware, then this error can take place. So, you need to get certified antivirus software, scan the system files and remove all the malicious objects.