Cheating in games has been around long before video games were invented. No game is exempt. Video game development nowadays is a testament to that reality, especially in online games with a competitive aspect to them. It’s a never-ending battle between game developers and hackers, exploiters, and cheaters out to bend the rules in their favor for whatever reason they can muster.
Current “flavor of the month” mobile game Pokémon Go, of course, has its fair share of cheaters and exploiters. Those crazy 2K to 3K CP Arcanines, Blastoises, Exeggutors and Dragonites guarding the nearby gyms despite the game’s recent launch? According to gaming news blog ZAM, Niantic is having a tough time stamping out those very miscreants.
Niantic’s most recent Pokémon Go patch contained security measures that blocked third-party services and apps (like the now defunct Pokevision) from accessing the game’s interface. Niantic admitted that while some of these services were harmless, many of them were possible loopholes for botters and hackers. Patching the security vulnerabilities also lead to improved performance for the game’s servers, according to data the company gathered. That’s good and all, but the baddies are still here!
In an interview with the tech gurus at Ars Technica, the community manager for MyGoBot, a Pokémon Go botting service, had this to say about Niantic’s cheat-curbing efforts: “Niantic’s anti-cheat is very sad compared to some others. Everything they have been adding in has been easy to thwart.” “It took us three days to crack [Niantic’s encryption]. This is just a neverending game,” said the MyGoBot CM.
Niantic seems to have anticipated that their security measures would be broken. “We don’t expect these attempts to stop. We will continue to take steps to maintain the stability and integrity of the game,” the developer declared in the game’s recent patch notes.
For now, these GPS-spoofing, botting Pokémon Go trainers get to live another day, unless fellow players report them en masse. Do your part and report the villainous cheaters, trainers! The Ban Hammer of Justice must be brought down on them!
Do it the legit way through these Pokémon Go articles:
Pokemon Go 101: Starting your Pokemon Journey
Pokemon Go 101: Apps for the Aspiring Pokemon Master
Pokemon Go Lure Parties: Catch ‘Em All this Friday and Weekend
Smart to Give Free 7-Day Data Access to Pokemon Go
Get Ready for Pokemon Go with freenet and PayMaya
Source: ZAM, Ars Technica
