In response to a growing number of complaints from fans of Bungie’s Destiny 2 about the proliferation of players using third-party peripherals to give themselves an unfair advantage, the developer has announced new rules restricting the use of such devices. News about the updated policies comes ahead of the release of the latest Destiny 2 mid-season update, which is expected to bring some major changes to the popular free-to-play shooter.
Originally released on PC and consoles as a paid title in 2017, Destiny 2 allows players to take part in both PvP and PvE gameplay in a variety of modes. Destiny 2 made the move to a free-to-play, live-service model with the release of the New Light expansion in 2019. Bungie has provided a steady stream of updates and expansions to the popular sci-fi shooter since release, bringing sometimes major changes to Destiny 2 that have helped it remain competitive in a gaming landscape becoming increasingly crowded with free-to-play shooters.
In recent months, players of Destiny 2 have voiced their frustration with the increasing number of gamers using third-party peripherals to cheat in the online shooter. These devices, which can be used on both PC and consoles, allow malicious users to run scripts or give themselves improved aim. Responding to feedback from Destiny 2 players about this proliferation of hardware-assisted cheating, Bungie has announced that it will begin taking action against players using these tools “specifically to gain an advantage over other players,” up to and including issuing bans. The new rules will apply to any hardware aids that work to disrupt the “experience the game designers intended.”
Devices covered by the new ban include a wide range of third-party peripherals, from keyboard and mouse adapters and programmable controllers available for consoles to macro software and “automation via artificial intelligence.” While these new rules will apply to players using third-party hardware to gain an advantage in Destiny 2, they won’t carry over to accessibility devices used by differently-abled gamers to play Bungie’s online shooter. Reinforcing this point, Bungie’s announcement states that Destiny 2 players using an accessibility aid “where a player could not play otherwise” won’t run afoul of the new rules.
While no single rule change or policy update will ever be able to completely eliminate cheating from online games, Bungie’s new policies should help to curtail the actions of some of the most egregious cheaters in Destiny 2. And while the changes may come as unwelcome news to those who relied on aim hacks and scripts to take down Destiny 2 raid bosses, for most players it will be a sign that the game is headed in the right direction.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Bungie