Any competitive shooter has some form of cheating problem, in one way or another. Fans and players of Call of Duty, whether it be traditional multiplayer modes or Warzone's battle royale, are likely very familiar with what cheating looks like in those games. Even the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta, a game that doesn't officially release for another few weeks, had cheaters. Bungie's had to deal with its fair share of cheaters in Destiny 2 as well, but has opted for a slightly different approach this time around.
Bungie, known for their Halo acclaim, used to be famous for their liberal use of the "Ban Hammer" on players believed to be griefing or cheating in any way. That same watchful eye and service has persisted into Destiny 2 as well, although alongside a new deterrent the developer has implemented to help stop Destiny 2's massive cheating problem. Ever since Trials of Osiris, Destiny's highly competitive PvP mode was introduced, cheating has increased immensely. Recently, Bungie has proven how it's dealing with Destiny 2's cheating problem.
The Prevalent Cheating Problem in Destiny 2
As mentioned previously, cheating is a persistent problem throughout all competitive shooters, but Destiny 2 had (and to some extent still has) a significant cheating problem throughout competitive modes. Whether it's competitive or casual matches in the Crucible, or even more prevalent in the Trials of Osiris pinnacle competitive mode, consistently are guardians matched with players using aimbots or wallhacks to gain an unfair advantage. Cheating in Destiny 2 soared in March when Trials of Osiris was first introduced, and it's remained a consistent problem since.
With Trials of Osiris in particular, cheating is a huge problem due to the nature of that PvP mode. Players have to go Flawless in order to receive the best loot, which means winning seven games in one sitting. Players still have a three loss buffer in Trials, but that's still not much wiggle room for failure in a competitive mode that only shows up for the weekend. Of course, with Bungie's banhammer taking active swings on known cheaters, the problem was chipped at steadily, but there were still hundreds of cheaters in the Trials of Osiris mode. Even now, cheaters continue to roam Trials of Osiris despite Bungie taking a new approach to dealing with Destiny 2 cheaters.
Bungie Heading to the Source of Cheats
Bungie used to be known for its liberal usage of the "ban hammer" during their days as Halo's developer, and not much has changed with Destiny either. However, this year the developer is handling the cheating problem in a much more significant manner. Alongside handling reported players and banning them accordingly, Bungie has taken to investigating the source of prevalent cheat softwares and pursuing legal action as well. The most notable evidence of this came recently, when PerfectAim was taken down by Bungie's legal action.
PerfectAim sells subscription-based cheat software for a variety of games, one of which previously being Destiny 2. The product package used to contain "ESP" hacks (extra sensory perception) used to see character's hitboxes through walls, alongside aimbots to basically give players 100 percent perfect accuracy. There were also teleport and no recoil hacks implemented as well, much of which obviously violated Bungie's terms and conditions. Bungie recently issued a cease & desist order to PerfectAim, which in turn forced the software company to take down the product page, along with retroactively cancelling cheaters' active subscriptions as well.
Attempting to Prevent the Hydra Effect with Destiny 2's Cheaters
Unfortunately, it's not the end-all be-all for cheaters in Destiny 2. PerfectAim is just one of many sources for cheating in Destiny 2, and presumably another software will become prominent enough that cheating will reach a fever pitch again in the future. However, this is a good sign from Bungie that the developer intends to continue vigorously pursuing cheating efforts in Destiny 2. Obviously swinging the ban hammer is still necessary to kick out notorious players, but determining the source of cheat software can potentially help cut off access to the many hundreds of players getting an unfair advantage in competitive modes.
For now, PerfectAim's takedown is the only evidence on if this approach is helping Destiny 2's community. Just taking down one cheating software means eventually two or three other softwares will take its place. It'll take some time before even more major cheating software is taken down, and may require more effort on the part of Bungie's legal team to truly purge the cheating problem in Destiny 2. This is a proper first step, and a good sign from Bungie as the developer attempts to reach the sources of the problem, but even more vigilance may be necessary if the cheating problem continues to swell even further.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.