Developer Harmonix reveals that, as part of a large overhaul to reduce the risk of exploits, every leaderboard in Rock Band 4 has to be entirely wiped.

When it comes to competitive gaming, some players will go to any lengths to make sure that their names remain in the top tier of a game’s history. In the case of Rock Band 4 from Harmonix, it looks as though some players have managed to use exploits to reach otherwise impossible scores for the game’s online leaderboards. The developer has gone to somewhat extreme lengths to address the issue, however, as it has wiped the Rock Band 4 leaderboards.

It turns out that the game was released with a number of bugs, including one particular issue that has proved of interest to Rock Band 4 drummers. It turns out that some gamers have been able to deploy Overdrive twice on runs of songs, by hitting the green overdrive gems that can be found at the end of dynamic drum fills. This has led to some outrageous live scores.

Harmonix has now attempted to solve the problems with the title, which delivers the same party fun of the original games, but an unfortunate side effect is that the current leaderboards will have to be wiped entirely. According to the developer, this is because the improvements it is making will affect almost "every song, instrument, and difficulty in the game." This may disappoint those who have managed to climb their way up the charts without use of exploits.

The developer is also going to try and stop these exploits from happening again, after adjusting the game’s code. What’s more, Harmonix will no doubt be hoping that such a severe measure will not be required again, and apparently is taking steps to prevent it. In future, Harmonix is planning to use "targeted leaderboard wipes" to take out suspicious scores, rather than resorting to removing the entire board.

Although these leaderboards will no longer show the scores, there is some solace that legitimate players may find. Users will still have access to their high scores via local saves, and the player’s own song library will continue to "display the accuracy and star count for your highest-scoring performances to date." However, these will be replaced after the player attempts the new song when the latest update hits.

Rock Band 4 is far from the only game to be on the receiving end of hacks and tricks. Bethesda’s Fallout 4 mobile companion Fallout Shelter proved to be a haven of exploits, with the leaderboards targeted by those after impossible scores. Here’s hoping that Rock Band 4 players will be able to keep their legitimate scores safe from here on out.

Source: IGN