Riot And Bungie Team Up To Take On Cheat Sellers
Riot Games and Bungie are collaborating on a project, but not to create a new game. Both studios are teaming up to sue a variety of companies that specialize in cheating software — the most notable being GatorCheats owned by Cameron Santos. The developers are looking to put an end to companies who are creating cheats specifically for their titles.
Riot Games is the developer behind Valorant, while one of Bungie's biggest games is Destiny 2. Gameplay exploits for these two titles have been allegedly created and distributed by GatorCheats for a profit. According to a report from Polygon, Bungie has previously sent a cease and desist to GateorCheats, to which they responded by telling its consumers that they will stop selling cheating software for Destiny 2. However, a new lawsuit claims that the company is, in fact, still selling cheats for both Destiny 2 and Valorant in private through a secret website, email, Telegram, and Discord.
Bungie and Riot Games claim that the software that was created by GatorCheats is designed to bypass each respective companies' anti-cheat technology. According to the lawsuit, the cheating software for Valorant and Destiny 2 gives players unair gameplay advantages. "Automatically aiming weapons, revealing the locations of opponents, and allowing the player to see a vast array of information that otherwise would be obscured" are just a few of the cheats mentioned in the complaint.
Since GatorCheats and other companies have been charging players for these advantages, the complaint alleges that GatorChears has made "tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars" from selling this software. Both developers are hoping to shut down GatorCheats and other similar software sources, in addition to claiming "millions of dollars" in the process. According to Polygon, none of the companies involved in the lawsuit have made any further statements.
This is not the first time that cheats and exploits have caused an uproar for both of these games. In 2019, Destiny 2 players were exploiting a bug in the game's code that allowed them to blast their way through the Tribute Hall by rapidly gaining a large number of tributes. The glitch was eventually patched, but not without adding some restrictions to players who took advantage of the cheat. On the other hand, Valorant's anti-cheating software had players concerned last year, when the program continued to run even when players weren't playing the game.
More recently, developers behind large titles have been cracking down on cheaters. Games such as Fall Guys have undergone a series of updates to try and deal with hackers. Meanwhile, PUBG Mobile recently purged over 2 million accounts that were using cheats or modifications. The lawsuit from Bungie and Riot Games is one of the latest major efforts to reduce cheating in multiplayer titles. Despite whatever the outcome might be in this legal battle, hackers have been warned that there is no place for them in Destiny 2 and Valorant.