ARC Raiders, like most PvP game, is plagued with cheaters. The problem is both the severity and the fact that this is a game that will wipe your entire loadout if killed, so there are higher stakes that say, losing a Call of Duty match or dying in a battle royale early.
The cheating issue has been highlighted by players and big-name streamers alike, and Embark has finally responded. But most are not thrilled with the end result here. Here’s the new policy:
ANTI-CHEAT: A three-strikes progressive ban system is in the process of being implemented. Bans will progress from 30 days to 60 days and finally a permaban for repeat offenders.
Too harsh? No, not harsh enough, is the common refrain.
The idea is that if someone is determined enough to cheat to download that kind of software to ruin the game for other people, there should be zero tolerance, not three strikes. An insta-ban for anyone caught cheating, not a pass to do it another time and just skate to avoid a third.
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However, the counter to that is the possibility of false positives, which is not impossible with cheat-detection systems. So if it’s inaccurate, it’s unlikely they’ll be falsely tagged two more times for a permaban. Still, that seems like a reach, and if the game was doing one strike and you’re out, those kinds of bans should be manually confirmed before being implemented. But no, no strikes.
This is generally being received as ARC Raiders being “tolerant” of cheaters. It would be far from the only game to avoid on-the-spot permanent bans, as there are a range of policies across PvP shooters. Battlefield 6, most recently, purports to have a “zero tolerance” system. Famously, Marvel Rivals once issued a 100-year ban for a cheater. Most games, however, position their official phrasing as “cheating can lead to a permanent ban,” where the number of times caught can be a bit nebulous.
The common way to combat this, of course, is for the cheater to create new accounts if this is not an IP-targeted, well-implemented ban.
The new ARC Raiders change has not yet been fully implemented, so it remains to be seen how much it will affect the live game. But cheaters are like roaches, and it seems like no matter what you do, they will continue scurrying out of the walls however they can. I wish Embark the best of luck, but maybe they should have stomped harder here.
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