They say cheaters never win, and one video game developer is looking to teach that lesson to its own fans.
Respawn Entertainment, the developer behind the popular online multiplayer game "Apex Legends," is tackling an issue that's been plaguing the game for a while. While some gamers want to play the game for fun, or try to become a professional at the E-Sports level, there are others who will do anything to win. As a result, the game has become overrun with hackers and cheaters who use various software, glitches, and codes to gain a competitive advantage. Some programs help players by improving accuracy by automatically aiming, while others help them see through walls or go through the game undetected.
In an effort to combat the spread of in-game cheating, Respawn is ramping up their anti-cheating countermeasures. While they've gone down the typical route of creating Artificial Intelligence to detect cheating, playing to identify spam accounts, and instituting two factor authentication, there's one unique solution they're looking to implement. To keep the competition fair, Respawn says they will start, "[m]atchmaking that matches detected cheaters and spammers together."
In other words, if an account is suspected of cheating, it will only be able to play against other cheaters. Not only does this give cheaters a taste of their own medicine, but it also improves the games integrity and lets casual and professional players rest easy.
In a post on Reddit, Respawn said, "the war against cheaters will be ongoing and remains a high priority for us. There will always be work to do, improvements to make, and new things to adapt to." The measures will even be used against players who have cheaters in their gaming party. Respawn said, "even if you are not specifically using a cheat, partying up with cheaters is still cheating."