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.
Even with the Ricochet anti-cheat system, cheat developers such as EngineOwning used third-party software to get past the security measure. This caused chaos and disappointment within the Call of Duty community, with many Call of Duty League pros calling out Activision to address the situation.
Activision sued EngineOwning for creating malicious cheats and hacks which caused the company to lose millions of dollars in revenue. The judge assigned to the case ruled in favor of Activision, with two individuals named Manuel Santiago and Ignacio Gayduchenko being required to pay a total of $3,000,000 in damages to the game developer for creating the cheats and hacks in collaboration with EngineOwning.
The judge also ruled that the individuals be prohibited from creating software that violates the Terms of Service and End-User License agreements of games for the foreseeable future.
Other game developers such as Bungie and Take-Two have taken to court in a bid to stop cheat makers from ruining the games. Bungie recently filed a lawsuit against cheat maker AimJunkies, a company that creates cheats for Destiny 2 and it's been ordered to pay $4.3 million in damages to Bungie.
The series of lawsuits will hopefully deter future cheat makers from continuing this unscrupulous practice. The hefty fines should create a chilling effect on cheat makers and improve gameplay experience for players who want to enjoy the games they love.
