As almost every BR lover has heard by now, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is going free-to-play on January 12, 2022. While this is certainly an exciting time, it is known that there are often important questions that pop up with such a transition. Namely, how will PUBG address cheaters in a free-to-play game?
Anti-cheat is always a critical priority, but with Free-to-Play incoming, the need for an effective anti-cheat system is more important than ever as banned accounts can easily and infinitely be replaced.
As per the claims by PUBG developers, they have been preparing a number of countermeasures to combat cheat programs.
This article shares every detail from the dev letter published by Krafton on their official website and also explains the all-new Zakynthos anti-cheat policy that the devs will introduce in the game in 2022.
Read more Krafton hints at BGMI Lite official launch and release date
Read more PUBG Lite 0.22.0 APK Global Version Download Link for Android users
What is the Zakynthos anti-cheat service system in PUBG?
Zakynthos is PUBG’s proprietary anti-cheat solution that they implemented in January of 2021 as a means to speed up the anti-cheat process. Where before devs had to rely on slower external solutions, the time saved with Zakynthos helped them remove an additional 28% of cheaters from the previous year.
However, Zakynthos might not be enough to tackle all the cheaters. Hence, here are some of the extra measures that the devs have come up with:
- Automatic analysis of cheat software based on machine learning techniques
- 24-hour monitoring of Ranked matches in upper ranks
- Implementation of kernel drivers
- Preventing tampering of client
- Hardware ban system improvements
Here is the further explanation of PUBG’s new anti-cheat policy:
PUBG Mobile Lite Latest Version 0.22.0 Full Setup for Download
Join On Telegram now for PUBG news & updates
PUBG HARDWARE BAN Anti-Cheat IMPROVEMENTS: KEEPING CHEATERS OUT
Collecting cheaters’ hardware information and dishing out hardware bans is quite effective, but every software has its flaws and some dedicated cheaters were able to find ways to circumvent such sanctions on their hardware.
To help solve these issues, the devs developed a new hardware ban technology that utilizes special algorithms, which they implemented into Zakynthos. This upgrade eventually resulted in a near 30% decrease in metrics that track players experiencing and reporting cheaters. The new hardware ban also prevented penalized players from circumventing their bans.
Read the full patch notes here: PUBG New State December patch notes details
GAME CLIENT VULNERABILITIES
In 2021, the devs also focused on dealing with cheats that took advantage of vulnerabilities in clients.
Therefore, they analyzed the play patterns of cheaters and were able to apply server-side cross-checks and other defense mechanisms to select accounts only. As a result, the number of players using cheat programs related to character and vehicle movement was reduced by an astounding 99.97%.
Next, the devs worked on countering cheats that allow players to score kills from absurd distances or that automatically set your crosshair on opponents (or Aimbots). They also reinforced Zakynthos to better prevent cheaters from tampering with clients.
IN-GAME ABUSE REINFORCEMENTS in PUBG Anti-cheat system
By implementing machine-learning techniques and analyzing abuse cases, devs have been doubling down on penalizing players engaging in malicious behavior.
As a result, the number of players gaining Survival Mastery XP in abnormal ways has decreased by approximately 30%, and the number of players gaining RP through wrongful methods in high-tier Ranked has decreased by approximately 50%.
As per the developers, the new anti-cheat system will definitely reduce the influx of cheaters. They have even gone for the authentication system which will make logging into PUBG more secure. They stated:
“We are continuously preparing new and improved anti-cheat reinforcements. To share a few, we are actively looking into improving the situations of cheaters bypassing the SMS authentication system and of cheaters hacking into innocent players’ accounts.”
– Team PUBG
As per the devs, the ratio for suspected cheater accounts has gone down by approximately 45% compared to early 2021, and the situation is continually improving. Hence, it is a good sign for players that PUBG is trying to improve the fair-gameplay experience in the free-to-play version.
Get PUBG News and updates on our Telegram
“If you like this article follow us on Google News, Facebook, Telegram, and Twitter. We will keep bringing you such articles.”
