AI is taking over! Well, not quite yet but they are being used to cheat in Ranked matches on Rocket League so is there really a difference?
According to a report published by PC Gamer, a number of players have reported that a number of AI-controlled bots have shown up in Ranked matches on Rocket League. Included in the report were a number of clips that seem to back up players’ claims as the clips in question show AI-controlled players seemingly controlling the ball with perfect precision when on the ground and guiding it toward the opponent’s goal.
Bots are nothing new to Rocket League but in the past, their main function was to act as a way to experiment in local matches against different difficulties of AI. The community developers of these bots never truly intended for the bots to be used in public and Ranked matches but unfortunately what started as a fun experiment has unleashed more ways for some bad actors to exploit the game.
The main APIs being used appear to be both RLGym and RLBot. One of the developers of RLGym, Aech noted on Reddit that the bots aren’t a new thing but what is new is other players implementing “their own tools for manipulating [Rocket League] that don’t have the same restrictions against playing online that RLGym and RLBot do.” Speaking to PC Gamer Aech said “RLGym is incredibly lucky to have found a super passionate and understanding community, and we won’t let these cheaters stop us… We’re taking steps to ensure our bots can’t be abused in the future and we can’t wait to show everyone the exciting projects we’ve been working on.”
While servers haven’t been overrun by Nexto bots yet it’s certainly something that players will be hoping Psyonix deals with sooner rather than later as if too many cheaters are present in any competitive game at one time it can almost destroy any enjoyment long term and new players get out of Rocket League. While there’s nothing major players can do at the moment if they match against a player using a Nexto bot the best thing players can do is report players they suspect of using the bot in Ranked matches.
