There are many elements to the gaming community, some good and some bad. On the latter side, fewer things are more frustrating than dealing with a cheater. Now, yes, some games WELCOME cheating via things like cheat codes. But when it comes to multiplayer titles, where everything is supposed to be leveled out outside of progression and skill level, it’s annoying when someone drops in with an illegal mod to their character and wipes out everyone. In games like Call of Duty, the development team has to work non-stop to try and prevent these cheaters from ruining their games.
Speaking of Call of Duty, their “Team Ricochet” squad are the ones who go and stop cheaters in their tracks. But in a new update on the game’s blog to welcome Season 4 of their latest title, they revealed a set of new tricks and tactics to stop cheaters in the long term.
How are they going to do that? Simply put, they will let the cheaters play but not let them realize they’re being hustled. They will use special in-game tricks to make them lose their weapons, see fake enemies, or put them in locked sections of the map. Why? So they can observe them:
“Cheating in video games such as Call of Duty is big business, and the technology behind cheats is constantly evolving. Allowing cheaters to remain in the game in a mitigated state provides #TeamRICOCHET with intel, while keeping cheaters occupied, in the dark, and unable to harm your in-game experience. The data we gather through analysis of mitigated players enhances our ability to reliably detect and ban players using similar cheat software.”
Yes, it would be “simpler” to ban the cheaters outright. But then the cheaters would just need to mask their signature, create a new account, and then start screwing with people all over again. By playing the “long game,” the Ricochet squad is doing everything possible to learn about the cheating programs and nipping them in the bud over time.
It won’t be something everyone appreciates, but it will improve the game overall. Plus, once the cheaters reveal their code to the team, the longer they play, they will get banned. It’ll just take a little longer than usual.
Dev teams have to use whatever tips and tricks they have to battle cheaters, so let’s give them some room to work and see how it goes.
