Superpowers, more ways to play, a longer life: With the help of so-called cheat programs, computer gamers can circumvent the intended restrictions – but is such software even permissible? The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has been examining this since Thursday. Playstation manufacturer Sony has sued. He demands damages from the developers and sellers of cheat software because of copyright infringement.
“Cheat” is an English verb and means to cheat or cheat. In this specific case, it is about a racing game for a mobile game console (PlayStation Portable) that is no longer in production. Thanks to the additional functions provided by the cheat software, it was possible for players to use the “Turbo” without restrictions or to select drivers from the start that should actually only be available from a higher score.
The programmer didn’t plan it that way, said lawyer Bernhard Arnold, who represented Sony’s Playstation subsidiary in the lower courts. However, cheat software is generally a problem for the industry and also for the players: “It is important that the rules are the same for everyone in order to maintain the fun of the game and the comparability of the results.”