Outriders is coming out next week, and as always, you can’t have a multiplayer game without someone figuring out how to cheat. Around 200 players cheated in the demo, so the developers have a pretty aggressive solution for the game’s launch: Cheat, and we’ll permanently brand your gameplay.
The hot poker approach is, honestly, welcome. There will always be a small percentage of false positives and edge cases, particularly on PC when users run into issues with Easy Anti Cheat. But providing the appearance of a strong anti-cheat solution is almost as important as actually having one sometimes, and People Can Fly wanted to make sure people know that they are not fucking around.
Repercussions of being identified as having used cheats:
Repercussions are account wide, not character specific
You will not be able to matchmake with legit players
Matchmaking will likely take significantly longer
You will still be able to play solo
In future, your HUD will have a discreet but visible watermark placed on it so that gameplay footage created on this account can be readily identified as coming from a flagged account.
“We can see you all,” the developers posted. “Yes, even the person who gave themself [sic] 600 Legendary Weapons.”
If your account was flagged for cheating, players will be given one lifeline before April 1, which is when all accounts will be checked again for launch.
“You must DELETE ALL CHARACTERS AND ITEMS ON YOUR ENTIRE ACCOUNT in order to wipe the slate clean. You should not carry over any progress between demo and main game if you previously cheated but do not plan to do so in the main game,” People Can Fly advised.
They stressed that people who use software specifically for performance tweaking — so things like MSI Afterburner, EVGA PrecisionX, RivaTuner and presumably Intel/AMD/motherboard system tools for controlling your PC — won’t be considered cheating.
Here’s — for now — what the developers are outlining as “cheats”, although this could always change in the future:
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Intentionally running the game on PC without Easy Anti Cheat (EAC)
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Modifying game files to enhance a character: levels, skills, inventory, etc.
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Externally modifying game time to reduce time dependent features such as vendors and challenges
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Using a trainer program or similar to gain advantages within the game
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Using gameplay altering programs such as aimbots or wallhacks
Given Outriders is pretty much a multiplayer experience, this all makes sense. I’m curious as to how people playing in singleplayer and using something like Cheat Engine for screenshotting would fare — given how that hooks into games, and the fact that it unlocks things well beyond nicer camera angles, Outriders would probably consider that cheating.
What’s also not mentioned is if people use post-processing injectors like ReShade to change the visual image. Again, that’s not something that would impact the multiplayer experience or change the balance of the game, but the way it hooks in could raise some flags with Outriders‘ implementation.
On a more practical note, however, the developers want to stress that farming is A’OK. “Even though the amount of battering that that captain underwent could be considered unethical,” they said.
Poor Captain. Outriders launches globally on all major platforms — next-gen and last-gen consoles too — on April 1, with only the Switch missing out. It’ll also be a launch title on Xbox Game Pass, but that’s only accessible for console users, so PC players will still want to buy through Steam here. (Just note that the Steam game won’t unlock until April 2.)
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