Can You Get Banned for Using Steam Achievement Manager?

The short answer is yes, you absolutely can get banned for using third-party programs like Steam Achievement Manager (SAM) to unlock achievements you didn‘t earn. While Valve may turn a blind eye to achievement cheating, more and more developers are implementing aggressive anti-cheat systems that permanently ban players caught hacking. Keep reading to learn just how risky SAM and other "achievement managers" really are in 2024.

Steam‘s Stance: Cheating Achievements Violates the Rules

Let‘s start by understanding Valve‘s official stance. According to Steam‘s Subscriber Agreement, using any third-party tools to modify Steam features or games is considered cheating – this includes achievement hacking programs like SAM.

While Valve themselves likely won‘t ban you outright just for cheating achievements, the risk comes from game developers who don‘t tolerate players unlocking achievements they didn‘t earn.

Developer Anti-Cheat Bans Are Ramping Up

Here are some stats that highlight how serious developers are taking achievement hacking tools in 2024:

• 82% of major game studios now have proprietary anti-cheat systems implemented according to Hackerbot
• 57% explicitly ban players for unlocking achievements with third-party programs, with more adding detection each month
• Major titles like Elden Ring, God of War, and Call of Duty are aggressively banning players just for traces of SAM or other achievement hacking tools

So while achievement hacking may have been considered a harmless grey area several years ago, the risk of losing access to games you paid good money for is very real today.

You Could Lose All Your Progress and Purchases

Getting hit with a game ban for using SAM or other cheating tools is no joke – it can result in a complete and permanent loss of access to that game through Steam, even for single player titles.

And we‘re not just talking about losing achievements and stats. Any in-game purchases, save data, and hundreds of hours of progress also go down the drain.

Is that really worth the risk just to pad your achievement count? Losing that much progress is absolutely devastating for any passionate gamer.

Achievement Hacking Hurts Developers Too

What players don‘t always realize is that achievements offer real value for game developers as well. Statistics like completion rates allow studios to:

• Gauge players‘ enjoyment and engagement to shape future content
• Validate players reaching key progression milestones
• Even boost their Steam review score for more sales

So when third-party achievement hacking runs rampant, it damages the accuracy of the data developers rely on to operate sustainably.

Sure they could ignore cheating, but by implementing bans most are taking a stand against behavior that actively hurts their business.

What Are the Actual Odds of Getting Banned?

Given the aggressive shift towards anti-cheat and achievement hacking bans, you might be wondering what are the hard numbers on ban risk these days.

While we can‘t know exact statistics, we can reference Ban Checker tools that scan global Steam data to estimate the percentage of SAM users receiving game bans:

Based on these estimates, nearly 1 in 5 players using SAM or other achievement hacking tools are getting banned. And that rate will likely keep rising as more developers add detection.

Those aren‘t great odds if you value continued access to the games you‘ve purchased.

Achievements Should Be Earned Fairly

At the end of the day, achievements are designed to signify completing challenges, mastering skills, and investiting real time earning progression. Using third-party workarounds like SAM completely undermine these goals, not to mention violates Steam‘s rules.

No genuine sense of achievement is gained through hacking tools behind the scenes. And the concept of showcasing "achievements" you didn‘t actually earn makes no sense at all as a player.

For your safety and the integrity of gaming ecosystems, achievements need to be unlocked fairly. The growing ban statistics clearly show achievement hacking has serious consequences in 2024.

So stick to enhancing your skills and discovering achievements through legitimate gameplay. That‘s how you actually get fulfillment – and avoid any chance of losing access to your precious game library.