Look, we can all think of video game developers and publishers who aren’t exactly the best with their player base. They tend to push more for the money side of things versus giving us the best possible title. However, plenty more developers want to work with the fanbase to get the best out of their games. A great example is Bandai Namco, who very recently had a closed network test for their upcoming fighting title Tekken 8. The test went well enough, which should’ve been the end of things for a bit. Except, some players are taking advantage of the situation.
How? By using some cheating methods, they’ve been able to open the test data illegally and allow themselves more time to play the game. This is hardly the first time that’s happened with a game of this nature, but there’s a bit of a twist on what could happen next if you participate in this “illegal production.”
Simply put, those who have used the cracked version could be deemed as having an “unfair advantage” as they’ve gotten more chances to get used to the game than others. As such, Bandai Namco has released a message stating that if you do use the cracked game, you could be banned from tournaments in the future:
They’re serious, they will ban you if they can prove you had this cracked version, so any “practice time” you gain from such a version would be moot.
The irony here is that only one version of Tekken 8 has been cracked, and that’s the PC version. That was the same deal when a certain Capcom franchise had a beta test, and it got cracked too. The PC community has made a living either cracking or modding titles to their whims, so, unsurprisingly, they were able to pull this off.
Some will wonder if future tests of games like these won’t go to PC to try and ensure that such breaches of trust and contract don’t occur again. Yes, that would be a blow to PC gamers who simply want to try out a title before buying it, but sometimes a sacrifice has to be made to make things fair.
Not to mention, the game already was “cracked” in another way, as their character roster was recently revealed in part thanks to certain gamers.
Eventually, Bandai Namco will have enough and do what it can to “close the loop” before more things get out of hand.
