What Are Game Cheats?
Game cheats allow gamers to bypass game mechanics and rules, giving them an unfair advantage over other players. These advantages can include the ability to see through walls, aim better or gain resources more quickly. Cheaters often use software or hardware to get around games’ anti-cheat features. Some are motivated by competition, while others are frustrated by the challenge of playing a game with restrictions.
There are two types of game cheaters: the average gamer who uses hacks to gain a slight edge, and malicious players who have the time, money and technical skills to create their own cheats. The former are usually ad-supported and have little impact on the gaming experience; the latter can cause a lot of damage and force video game companies to spend millions each year on anti-cheat measures.
In the early days of video gaming, POKEs (type-in cheat entries) were a part of many gaming experiences. These codes ranged from the famous ‘XYZZY’ code of the Colossal Cave to the unprintable ‘Engage Ridley Mother…..’ of Metroid and Carmageddon. Some game makers even created a special device called the Game Genie that would act as a pass-through between the cartridge and system to alter game variables. This did not go over well with Nintendo, and they started to incorporate checksums into later titles that could be compared against the original game files to determine whether a cheat was present.
Most modern games have some form of anti-cheat built into them. These can include software that prevents the user from gaining an unfair advantage by detecting cheating and preventing access to certain commands. Examples of these include a trigger bot, which automates the firing rate of a gun in first-person shooter games, and an aimbot that can automatically respond to opponents. These kinds of computer programs are considered cheating because they take control of the player’s actions, allowing them to shoot or move in ways that wouldn’t be possible without the program.
Other kinds of game cheats include radar hacks that show a map of the playing area, ESP (electronic scanning) that allows the player to see information that wouldn’t normally be available, lag switches that artificially slow down or speed up the action, and a variety of other tools that make the game easier for the cheater. These methods are also considered cheating, and the vast majority of gamer’s agree that these kinds of techniques are unethical and ruin the gaming experience for honest gamers.
A recent Irdeto survey found that 33% of gamers say other players’ cheating negatively impacts their multiplayer gaming experience, and 18% claim it happens constantly. Cheating at other gamers’ expense is unfair to gamers who pay $50 for a video game in the hope of a fair and balanced experience. The gaming industry is working to fight cheating through the development of new anti-cheat methods that constantly evolve and improve, but some hackers are able to overcome these measures. The gaming community can support these efforts by reporting suspected cheaters to their favorite games’ developers and avoiding cheats themselves.