Tencent helped Chinese police arrest 120 PUBG cheat makers

According to Bloomberg, Tencent has helped the Chinese police uncover at least 30 cases and arrest 120 people suspected of designing programs that confer unfair advantages (from aimbots to wallhacks) to users in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Bloomberg also notes that cheat makers have converted PUBG leaderboards into a kind of advertising for their products, using contact information as their names.

“PUBG is going through a puberty of sorts and cheaters threaten to stunt its growth,” said Kim Hak-joon, who analyzes gaming stocks for South Korea’s Kiwoom Securities Co. “Cheaters mostly drive away new users, and without retaining new users, PUBG won’t be able to consolidate its early success and become a long-lasting hit.”

“There are more cheaters than any normal game because of the huge popularity,” said Daniel Ahmad, an analyst for researcher Niko Partners. And “China as a gaming country is very competitive. There’s a reason why e-sports and pay-to-win is so big there.”

“It’s a never-ending battle,” said the Tencent representative. “You could come up with something effective today, but encounter something completely different the next day.”

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds players are heavily concerned about Chinese cheaters. Community demands for region lock.

Origin: www.bloomberg.com