Based on what’s been shown since its reveal in June, Battlefield 2042 is shaping up a major addition to the first-person shooter genre. Many fans have been excited for all of the new content and gameplay enhancements DICE’s next shooter will bring, and that excitement is likely to grow as EA teases Battlefield 2042 more ahead of launch. What won’t excite them, however, is the fact that it looks like hackers and cheaters will be ready to cause problems once the game arrives.
It’s a tale as old as online gaming. Wherever there is a competitive element in a game, there will always be someone resorting to unfair means to gain an advantage. This has only become truer as online games become even more prominent, with online shooters like Call of Duty: Warzone suffering from a cheater problem in particular. Going off conventional wisdom, one could have hoped that it would take at least a few weeks after Battlefield 2042’s October launch for a cheat market to form, but, unfortunately, now it’s being reported that cheats and hacks are already being sold for the game two months early.
Initially reported by Charlie Intel, a website called IWantCheats claims to have cheats available to purchase for Battlefield 2042. The site (which no one has been linking to for obvious reasons) lists off the types on offer. These include aimbots that allow users to lock onto opponents and instantly kill them, Cheat Radars that highlight enemy players, and ESP hacks that display the names of other players and how far away they are.
IWantCheats claims that its cheats are “confirmed to be undetected,” boasting that it always updates “the second a new patch comes out” from DICE, thus protecting its hacks from being spotted by the developer’s anti-cheat measures. What makes this especially worrisome is that the site claims to have over 1.2 million registered users. Most would agree that even a fraction of those users could pose a huge risk towards the integrity of Battlefield 2042’s online experience.
As for how people can be selling hacks for a game that’s not even out yet, Kotaku reports that the site has been at this for a while, having been making cheats for Battlefield games since 2006. Evidently, then, the people behind it are familiar enough with the series’ engine to know what to expect from DICE and adjust as needed.
A lot of hype has surrounded Battlefield 2042 over the enhancements being made to the game’s multiplayer and destruction elements, as well as the Portal sandbox mode that will let players create their own custom Battlefield experiences. With all of this potentially game-changing content, it is disheartening to hear cheaters are getting an early start on messing it up. Though with any luck, EA and DICE will be able to combat the problem. The game will reportedly use the same anti-cheat system as Fortnite and Apex Legends, so hopefully it will be able to ensure non-cheaters will overall be able to play without hassle.
Battlefield 2042 launches on October 22 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Charlie Intel, Kotaku