Players of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds have been complaining for some time that the game has a cheating problem. The game's creator, PUBG Corporation, is already using anti-cheat software to ban cheaters but this isn't the only thing that's being done to tackle the issue.
According to a new report by Bloomberg, Tencent, the company responsible for the game's Chinese localization and the mobile port, has been working with Chinese police to catch cheat makers. The report confirms that Tencent has worked with Chinese authorities, helping the police to uncover 30 cases and arrest 120 people over alleged involvement in making PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds cheats. "Those convicted in the past have done jail time," says Bloomberg.
Rather brazenly, some of these cheaters even use PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds leaderboards and Tencent's own messaging service QQ in order to advertise their services. The game's top 10 list of players includes players with QQ contact details as names, telling interested parties to get in touch in order to gain access to cheat programs. These cheat programs offer features such as 'wallhacks' (being able to see through walls) and automatic targeting.
It should be noted that the localized Chinese version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has yet to fully launch. The lack of localized Chinese servers is one reason why the game was recently review bombed on Steam.
However, fans of the game will be glad to see that Tencent is taking such a proactive approach to tackling the issue. Tencent may not be officially in charge of PUBG in the region (yet), but it clearly understands the hurdles it faces and the needs of its playerbase.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds players outside of China will be hoping that similar actions will be taken against cheat makers in their regions too. In addition to bans, PUBG Corporation has utilized other 'smart' ways of dealing with cheaters, including matchmaking cheaters together so that they don't bother players who don't cheat. But this is not enough and the cheating problem continues.
The reports of Tencent getting the authorities involved could well be a deterrent, though. Tencent isn't even the first company to use the law to shut down cheat makers, as Fortnite developer Epic Games also filed a lawsuit against people making cheats for its game. Players may not be seeing the affects yet, but the arrests and the lawsuits could well dissuade people from making and using cheats in future.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is available now for PC and on Xbox One through the Xbox Game Preview program.
Source: Bloomberg