Kill Steal: What does it mean to steal a kill?

In video games, a kill steal is an act where a person hits the final blow on an enemy almost defeated by a teammate, “stealing” the kill. Kill stealing is prevalent in multiplayer games like MOBAs such as League of Legends and Dota 2 or FPS titles like Counter-Strike and Valorant ^[1], where players try to get kills. Kill steals are annoying because the person who did the most damage doesn’t get the credit, and the other person gets it despite weakening the opponent.

Kill stealing can cause bad blood between teammates in multiplayer games that track individual performance through kills or those where players get in-game rewards by eliminating opponents. It’s worth noting that kill stealing isn’t always intentional, and sometimes teammates might do it accidentally in the chaos.

How do you differentiate between kill steals and helping out?

There are two things players must understand to differentiate between a kill steal and helping out intent and communication, and the timing and context. If someone kills an enemy just to score a point, knowing the original attacker could’ve likely secured the kill is a kill steal. If the teammate intervenes to help the original attacker and communicates, then it’s helping out.

It’s tough to figure out who should get the final blow in the chaos of fights, but this is where timing and context come into play. If someone swoops in at the last moment to get the kill instead of helping throughout the battle, they probably just want to take credit for everyone else’s work. If they assist a teammate in the entirety of the action, it’s ok since they’re probably playing for the team.

References

1. [1] "official Valorant homepage". playvalorant.com. Retrieved September 05, 2024