Wasteland 3 is a role-playing game developed by inXile Entertainment. The game takes place in the wasteland of a frozen Colorado after an apocalyptic event. Thus far, Wasteland 3 has reviewed very well thanks to solid gameplay and a comical but gritty story.
Wasteland 3 is certainly not a game that can be beaten in one sitting, as it can take 50-60 hours. But for those who beat the game, there is a special ending, specifically for hackers.
Brian Fargo, Studio Head of InXile Entertainment, tweeted out something rather amusing. Apparently Wasteland 3 has many ending states that players can enjoy, which adds to the replayability as well. One of those endings was specially made for hackers, meaning they will receive a surprise message when the game is completed.
According to Brian Fargo, there have already been several people who have played Wasteland 3 nefariously, and therefore received the cheaters ending state. So far it doesn't seem like any of the hackers have shared the message online, perhaps based on embarrassment. But it is quite hilarious to know that that ending state was designed to be in the epic-sized game that is Wasteland 3, and that the developers are able to see that players have cheated and seen it.
This isn't the first time a developer has implemented a hidden message in the game for hackers, one of the better examples being the South Park: The Fractured But Whole in-game message for cheaters. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick appears when players attempt to cheat, giving a "rousing speech" about being known as a scumbag cheater or playing the game as designed.
Riot Games took an entirely different approach with Valorant and hackers. The team worked very hard at designing anti-cheat programs for the game, but for the hacker that is able to get around it, they will see the message "Protected by packman, a Riot Games product. Developed with <3 by the Anti-Cheat team. We're always hiring talented individuals. If you've found this message, we implore you to take a look at our jobs page," and then the careers website for Riot Games is provided. The team behind Valorant uses the interesting approach of recruiting anyone who is talented enough to get around thier anti-hack walls.
Whatever the team behind Wasteland 3 left as a message is not yet in the public, but it will most likely appear sooner or later. Now that it is known that they left a hidden message, it's more likely that cheaters will try to beat the game in a hacked state to find it and share it online.
Wasteland 3 is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.