The Battle Between Hackers and Game Developers

Every day there is an arms race happening between video game developers and hackers. Hackers have been given a new definition: anyone who uses illegal software to disrupt gameplay for other people. And game developers are trying to defend their games from hackers. 

Hackers have been getting worse as new technology and cheats have come out, giving hackers the edge. They use new technology like strike packs to remove recoil on weapons in the controller itself so you can’t detect it.  

The two most common cheats hackers use are aimbots (which instantly lock their aim on people) and wallhacks (which let hackers see people through walls). But some hackers find more “fun” ways to play, like flying around the map in cars eliminating everyone, or equipping two weapons at once to be unmatched in firepower. 

What do hackers do to video games? 

Many games recently, from “Overwatch 2” to “War Thunder”, have been hit by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks which make the game unplayable for some time. 

Other games have had their ranked modes infested by hackers in games like “Apex Legends” and “Call of Duty”. And then older games have been made unplayable at points because hackers completely take down the servers in games like “Titanfall 2”.   

This problem has mostly affected free-to-play games because hackers can make new accounts whenever they get banned from the game. They often target pro players and large content creators to get fame from them. 

How do game developers defend their games? 

Game developers defend their games from cheaters in many ways. They use anti-cheat measures in their games to automatically detect and sometimes ban hackers. They also hire people to view clips of potential hackers that players submit. The main problem is that hackers are often one step ahead of the anti-cheat measures. 

Game developers also have to find a balance. If they do too little, people say they don’t care about the game, and if they do too much, they could ban innocent players, possibly driving players away. 

What can you do to help? 

You can help game developers ban hackers by using the in-game report system that most games have. Games often also have social media pages or online sites you can send your clips of hackers to. If a hacker is on your side in a game, leave them alone and don’t help them.