Game developers have always attempted to employ methods in their games to prevent cheating, but this hasn't stopped cheat makers from working their way around such measures to make bank. More often than not, cheat makers get away with what they do. But, one cheat developer found out the hard way that cheating doesn't pay.
Cheating has always been a part of the video game industry since the early days. Some games even had cheats added to the code (a great example being GTA 5 cheats) while orders were the result of players discovering ways to break the game. These days, cheats are especially common in free-to-play competitive games where players want to gain advantages in matches.
In response, game developers such as Activision employ anti-cheat software to detect anomalous behavior from players in an effort to level the playing field. Activision recently deployed the Ricochet anti-cheat system to weed out cheaters in its newer titles.
Now, a judge has ordered a company involved in making cheat programs to pay a hefty fine to Activision for damages it caused with its malicious software. EngineOwning developed cheats for several mainline Call of Duty games, including the popular battle royale game Call of Duty Warzone.