[Update]: Without any prior warning, Valve has just unleashed Counter-Strike 2 as a free update!
Anyone that has played CS:GO for a long period of time will instantly tell you that the two most annoying things you can face off against are obviously cheaters, but also smurfs, skilled players using a secondary account with a much lower rating in order to stomp all over the opposition.
While the recent patch notes don't mention anything about this, Valve has added an experimental 'Prime' matchmaking mode that's here to ensure only legitimate accounts face off against each other. Here's the gist of it, taken from the 'leaked FAQ' found within CS:GO's files:
"CS:GO is running an experiment to find out whether players will have a better matchmaking experience when they are matched with players who are using a phone-linked CS:GO account.
To join the experiment, you'll need to upgrade your CS:GO account to Prime status. Just click the UPGRADE button below, which will bind your Steam phone number to your CS:GO account (provided it qualifies, see the F.A.Q. below).
If you own multiple CS:GO accounts, be sure to upgrade your favorite one since you can only upgrade one CS:GO account to Prime status with your qualifying phone number.
Once there are enough Prime accounts, we will begin Prime Account Matchmaking and will start prioritizing matching Prime status players with each other."
While this will certainly discourage a fair amount of smurfing, its by no means a foolproof solution. First of all, anyone that's actually serious about smurfing and has bought multiple accounts in order to do so probably won't feel bad about spending a few more dollars in order to get a phone number. The second, and somewhat more personal issue, is that people aren't really fans of Valve requiring their personal information in order to play in the 'fair' matchmaking system rather than the in wild, wild West of standard matchmaking.
The good news is that we won't have to wait for very long in order to see if the system works or not because the beta has already begun for some players, as you'll note in the screenshot below that comes from the CS:GO subreddit:
