Electronic Arts is exploring various solutions to prevent cheaters from ruining the experience of others on the Battlefield and Apex Legends servers. One track in particular could be very clever.
Video game studios are struggling to fight against cheating, without managing to find an effective and lasting solution. A new approach could soon see the light of day on certain video games in order to make the games of those who play legit more enjoyable. As Gamerant reports in an article published on April 29, Electronic Arts could soon implement a new way to fight against annoying.
In January, the multinational registered a patent showing a very ingenious technology. It consists of canceling 20% of the actions carried out by cheaters, i.e. one in five – which is very penalizing for them. We understand that the goal is to make the clashes fairer, compensating for the advantages of cheaters with big penalties.
Fight against cheating, by making life more difficult for cheaters
Electronic Arts therefore wants to complicate the lives of cheaters, without them really being able to adapt to the fact of losing one share in five. But the studio suspects that a too rectilinear continuation would risk being anticipated and, therefore, circumventable: a cheat software could easily anticipate the next cancellation, by placing it on an action without interest.
To avoid this pitfall, the penalty could follow an algorithm based on the Fibonacci sequence, which is less obvious to follow, for the erasure of the slightly more uncertain fifth action. EA could also not give its recipe precisely, precisely to avoid that we can know what to expect. Clearly, another mathematical sequence could be used, or something else entirely.
Electronic Arts has every interest in developing effective measures to combat cheating. The publisher is in charge of particularly popular multiplayer-oriented games, such as Battlefield (even if this is less true with the latest opus) or even Apex Legends. The Battle Royale, direct competitor of Fortnite, was quickly targeted and, within a month, Respawn Entertainment banned over 350,000 players. The studio quickly took the measure of the phenomenon, working on its side on its own tools.
Electronic Arts is not alone in this necessary fight to build a healthy community. Activision, the company behind Call of Duty, is also looking for effective solutions, showing an involvement that can sometimes be controversial. Making cheaters play together or making others invincible are some of the measures being tested. Recently, a patch deployed for Call of Duty: Warzone and call of duty vanguard added a new rule: as soon as a player is suspected of cheating, he will no longer be able to see or hear his opponents.