Verge: The world’s biggest PC games are fighting a new surge of cheaters

[Tek]

May 6, 2020

If you’ve ever played a PC game that has a competitive element, you’ve probably played against a cheater. Whether it’s that sniper bullet that felt a little too accurate, the person teleporting around the map, or the opposition that just somehow knows which angle you’re about to peek from every single time. Some of the world’s most popular PC games are now fighting back against cheaters in new and interesting ways — just as cheating becomes an even bigger problem.

The developers behind Call of Duty: Warzone, PUBG, and Destiny 2 have all announced big pushes to respond to cheating in recent weeks. The hottest game on Twitch, Valorant, isn’t even out yet, and cheating is already a problem that needs to be addressed.

Cheating in PC games isn’t a new phenomenon. Game hacks and cheat software have been around as long as PC games have existed. Aimbots automatically lock onto opponents’ heads, so cheaters can fire and immediately win a battle. Wallhacks expose everyone on a map so cheaters get a huge advantage of knowing when you’re about to push a point or turn a corner. There’s even lag switching, which mainly affects peer-to-peer games, allowing cheaters to stutter around a map and become very difficult to hit.

There’s a lot at stake if these PC games don’t address the cheating issues they’re facing. PUBG has gradually been losing active players in recent months, and Destiny 2’s PC player base has fallen behind Xbox One and PS4 after taking over both consoles last year. A drop in player numbers means less revenue for developers who have adopted a free-to-play model, and nobody wants to watch pro players on Twitch face cheaters all the time.

The world’s biggest PC games are fighting a new surge of cheaters and hackers

Some game developers are using unique and controversial ways to combat cheating.

www.theverge.com

 

[Nova]

A lot of times the cheater and the crackers are from the China. And they tend to edit the games and make the automation with bots. Which kind of defeats the purpose of gaming. I have known a lot of gamers who are tired of bots and chinese hackers. It's definitely difficult to play in such condition.