Arc Raiders is one of the most popular multiplayer games around right now with millions of players jumping in to the extraction shooter. As one of the most popular games right now, it’s also filled with wannabe cheaters because some gamers are just annoying losers.
Currently, Arc Raiders cheaters are using aimbots, wallhacks and other exploits to gain an unfair advantage against other players. Even without the use of bespoke cheats, some players were using Nvidia Filters to get one leg up on others, which was just lame-o behaviour.
However, when cheaters get banned, sometimes non-cheaters get caught in the mix, and there have been a lot of players claiming they have been unfairly banned. While some are saying that they have been banned without just cause, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Soderland believes the game’s anti-cheat is working properly.
“The banning process is obviously delicate because we need to make sure that we ban people that deserve to be banned.”
Embark Studios CEO Patrick Soderland
“We have been pretty aggressive on this,” the CEO told IGN, explaining that the “game wasn’t prone to so many cheaters in the beginning, but as with all multiplayer games that get successful, this becomes a component, unfortunately.”
Soderland likened the rise of cheaters to the possibility of a DDoS attack, something that Embark recently battled when outside forces took down servers for both Arc Raiders and The Finals. Soderland explained that, in both situations, Embark has “to try and be a step ahead”.
“We’ve started banning players, and why do I know that? Because I see an influx of people trying to get to the studio, and to me,” the CEO said, explaining that players frequently reach out to him personally in an attempt to be unbanned.
“’Oh, I didn’t do anything.’”, players tell him. “We’re seeing a pretty substantial change in that, but I know that we have banned probably tens of thousands of players so far, that I know. Again, we need to make sure that we get it right. That we are fair, and that, in the case where it’s clear that we didn’t get it right, that we can quickly remedy the situation so that player isn’t affected in an unfair fashion or way.”
The biggest issue with detecting and banning cheaters is that cheaters always find new ways to cheat. Soderland explains that this requires a lot of nuance in making sure that people who are actually breaking the rules are banned versus players that are just good.
“The banning process is obviously delicate because we need to make sure that we ban people that deserve to be banned, if that makes any sense,” he says. “If you take general figures, anywhere between 0.1% to 1% of any multiplayer crowd in a large-scale multiplayer game is cheating, and therefore, to some extent, should get a temporary or a longer, or permanent ban.”
