In context: Cheating in video games has always been detrimental to the overall experience. After all, no one likes to be playing PUBG and get one-tapped from the top of a building located a mile away with an M24... using iron sights. These issues are more common in PC, but a machine learning-based cheating suite currently in development promises to plague console players the same way.
Despite being illicit in games, and even illegal in some countries, the cheating industry has developed immensely, creating multi-million dollar businesses. You may think cheating is lame, but the truth is some individuals do not mind spending their money to get the "competitive edge" over their foes.
To further please their customers, cheating organizations have been developing new and more advanced tools using AI and machine learning. With these technologies, cheating tools are becoming more efficient, customizable, and harder to detect, pushing them to a whole new level.
One such example is the new cheating tool reported by Anti-Cheat Police Department, a group focusing on disrupting cheaters, cheat developers and cheat sellers. Unlike most cheat suites which only work on the PC platform, this one is also compatible with Xbox and PlayStation (didn't specify which ones).
Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the next generation of cheating now available on console, and has been for a while but lately its been becoming more popular and more of a trend, consoles are no longer a safe space to play your games legit anymore pic.twitter.com/iEQzPVFf1h
— Anti-Cheat Police Department 🕵️ (@AntiCheatPD) July 5, 2021
Instead of simply using scripts, the reported tool requires a computer with a capture card to detect enemy movement and screen text. After processing the captured image, the cheat suite acts accordingly, sending the necessary inputs to the controller to kill the target. It's worth noting you'll still need to move the character and point it in the right direction.
"This is aim assist but more amplified without you even needing to do anything all you have to do is aim in the general area and the machine will do the work for you," stated the Anti-Cheat Police Department in a separate tweet.
In its current state, the tool will hardly affect competitive console play, mainly because not everyone has a PC with a capture card at hand. However, considering how fast cheating tools are evolving, we could see a more accessible version of the same eventually. That's when things may become really ugly for the competitive console gaming scene.
Masthead credit: Sam Pak