New ‘PUBG’ Anti-Cheat Feature To Disable Steam Sharing, Block Applications Like ReShade
PUBG Corp’s crackdown on cheaters in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds continues with a new anti-cheat feature being prepared for release next week. The studio shared new details Friday explaining how far the latest attempt to stop cheating goes including blocking applications like ReShade and disabling Steam sharing for the multiplayer shooter.
The rampant use of cheating applications in PUBG has caused the developer to dedicate a team focused only on countering cheat programs. Players have repeatedly asked or demanded PUBG Corp region lock players from China due to the overwhelming number of cheaters coming from the country. The studio has taken other steps instead, including banning over 100,000 cheaters in a single wave, but the new anti-cheat measures may be the most drastic yet.
The anti-cheat measure will block any application that alters game files or graphics in some way. This includes popular programs like ReShade which enhance the game’s visuals to make it easier to distinguish players from background objects like bushes and buildings.
PUBG Corp acknowledges there is a chance some applications that do not give players an advantage may be blocked as well. The last two weeks of testing has been spent attempting to hash out any compatibility issues and making sure harmless programs are not blocked.
PC players, we will be deploying a new anti-cheat solution on our live servers next week. You can read about this new solution as well as other anti-cheat updates in our latest dev blog here: https://t.co/YSww2Sf4cw pic.twitter.com/bWE0amqCnm
— PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS (@PUBG) February 2, 2018
Players who modify the game by deleting or modifying files may find themselves blocked from PUBG as well. This became an issue recently as some started deleting the Miramar map to avoid playing the recently released map in the rotation. A new release Thursday was meant to address some of the complaints about the map, such as the lack of cover in some areas and buildings not loading properly.
Additionally, the ability to share PUBG with other Steam accounts has been disabled. The developers explain they have “identified a number of vulnerabilities that are being exploited” though they understandably don’t explain which. It’s not hard to imagine a cheater creating one account with a purchased copy of PUBG and then sharing it with free dummy Steam accounts to cheat, however.
This new anti-cheat measure should not be not terribly surprising as gamers have seen similar measures. Destiny 2 is perhaps the most recent notable example as Bungie blocked the use of any application that tries to hook into the game’s files. The effort has largely been successful and it will be interesting to see if the same occurs with PUBG.
