The gaming industry is thriving, with millions of players immersing themselves in virtual worlds and competing against each other. However, alongside the legitimate players, there is an ever more prominent menace that threatens the integrity of games – cheaters.
In this blog, we will explore the importance of anti-cheat measures and how they cater to the diverse needs of game developers.
Cheating in games has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the immediate frustration of players. When cheating occurs, it leads to a significant drop in player engagement. Over time, this results in a decline in the active player base and potential loss of game revenue.
The negative effects can be even worse for publicly traded companies, as news of rampant cheaters can impact their stock market valuation. Cheating tarnishes a game’s reputation, lowering trust and loyalty among its players.
If cheating is a fact of life, it needs a solution, and the best one is employing anti-cheat technology. This approach involves the development of sophisticated systems capable of detecting and preventing cheating in various forms. By addressing cheating head-on, gaming companies can foster a fair and enjoyable gaming environment for their players.
Anti-cheat software is crucial for preserving the integrity of your game, protecting your revenue streams and enhancing brand reputation.
Game development is a diverse landscape, with projects of all sizes and platforms. The beauty of modern anti-cheat software lies in its ability to cater to developers of any size. These user-friendly solutions empower indie developers and large studios alike by providing seamless integration processes.
For example, Denuvo’s technologies offer an integration process, where game developers can simply submit their games in binary form, allowing for the necessary anti-cheat measures to be added without any coding efforts.
Cheating is not limited to a single platform. PC, mobile and console games all face the threat. Great anti-cheat software offers protection that works seamlessly across all platforms. This is especially important in multi-platform game releases, published either simultaneously or with overlapping release dates. Cross-platform anti-cheat software helps to maintain fair and consistent gameplay experiences, particularly for games that are optimized for cross-play.
Bots – automated programs designed to imitate human players – pose a significant challenge to game developers. Because anti-cheat solutions focus on identifying human players, their power is limited if a player applies a cheat. For bot detection, a more sophisticated approach is needed. This involves anti-cheat with innovative technologies, such as monitoring player behavior, including keyboard and mouse and touch interactions. That way they can detect abnormal patterns and differentiate between legitimate players and those using either software or hardware cheats.
Cheaters employ various tactics to gain an unfair advantage in games and the battle against them requires continuous innovation. The recently released Denuvo product with cutting-edge AI technology – Unbotify – constantly learns and adapts. The solution itself does not randomly shut down players, but rather gathers information and detects cheaters, giving the developers the ability to make an informed decision about the player’s account. As a result of this approach, gaming studios retain data ownership and control over the actions taken against cheaters, while minimizing false positives and ensuring a fair process for all players involved.
As the gaming industry increasingly relies on cloud technology, it becomes necessary for game developers to prioritize cloud-based security measures. By embracing cloud-native technology, companies at the forefront of anti-cheat products ensure robust and resilient security. When partnering with industry-leading providers, they can leverage their competence and expertise needed to effectively enhance their anti-cheat measures.
Denuvo is cloud-native and has been at the forefront of cloud security since 2014. By partnering with industry-leading providers like Amazon Web Services, we ensure the competence and expertise needed to effectively secure our solutions.
To learn more about how we can help protect your game against cheaters, contact us today!