PUBG cracking down on cheaters, hands out a 100-year ban to hacker

Olivia Richman Published 30/05/2019

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has taken a very serious stance against cheaters and hackers lately.

Seriously. It doesn’t get much more strict than a 100-year ban.

A Reddit user posted a screenshot to the PUBG subreddit that showed him getting notified that his account was banned for an entire century due to “too many suspected complaints for using illegal software and abnormal game logs.”

While this PUBG player can only hope an investigation into the ban reverses the decision, for now he’s not going to have access to his account until May of 2118.

PUBG’s “zero tolrance” policy for cheating

As is the case in fellow battle royale titles Fortnite and Apex Legends, PUBG can sometimes seem to be littered with hackers. To combat the growing pool of cheaters in the PUBG community, developers at PUBG Corp. have vowed to crack down on hacking and cheating programs “until our players are free to battle it out in a totally fair environment.”

This has included upgrading their security measures, improving their anti-cheat offerings, and recently adding a new anti-cheat solution. According to a press release from April, PUBG developers informed players that they are also continuing to gather information on cheat developers and sellers while working to “bring these people to justice.”

This press release was a response to 15 people suspected of creating and selling hacking programs that targeted the popular royale game being arrested. The individuals were also fined a total of $5.1 million by Chinese authorities who had been working with PUBG Corp.

PUBG Mobile is not safe from cheaters

The battle royale’s mobile game has fallen victim to an overabundance of hackers, just like the PC version. It’s been a big concern for the mobile game’s community, who have taken to social media to continually voice their concerns.

Luckily, Tencent is aware. Even more luckily, the company is taking extreme measures to discourage hackers and to wipe them out from the game when they’re caught.

“It has come to our attention that some players have been cheating in PUBG MOBILE matches. Such acts compromise the integrity of the rules and are detrimental to the PUBG MOBILE experience,” the PUBG Mobile operations team said.

Players caught cheating will recive a 10-year ban. It’s not quite 100, but it will probably do the trick. In addition to the 10-year ban, the hacker’s ID will be published in order to make PUBG Mobile a hack-free game.

The developers have published a list of banned accounts already, which can be found here.

“If you suspect that a player is cheating or using an anauthorized third party app to dishonestly assist their game in a match, please use the in-game reporting system to notify us. We investigate all such reports thoroughly and you will be informed of the findings,” the developers said.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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