If a popular multiplayer game exists, it has a cheating problem. This is almost always a guarantee, it’s just about the ways in which a studio chooses to handle this problem. So far, Embark Studios don’t seem to have done a perfect job in doing so with Arc Raiders, but they’ve now at least outlined their plans for how they’re going to approach cheating.
Explaining in a blog post, Embark write, “Our anti-cheat stack combines kernel-level protection from Easy Anti-Cheat with detection capabilities powered by machine-learning (ML) models, trained on a constant flow of player telemetry. Several additional layers sit behind these, which we don’t disclose for operational security.”
Kernel-level is often a big no-no for the techier folks on PC, but as Embark explain it, doing so is necessary because “most commercial cheats operate within that space. Without it, we’d have little to no visibility into the tools doing the most damage. We’re currently testing a new kernel-level solution that we expect will sharpen both detection and precision throughout Speranza and the Rust Belt.”
One of the negatives of using anti-cheat solutions, however, is that it can affect those who use accessibility devices, something that Embark also address in the post. “The signal we care about is intent,” they explain. “Our systems analyze telemetry and communication patterns to distinguish legitimate accessibility use from abuse, so players who depend on these devices to play can keep playing. This is a process that continues to be refined, but we’re dedicated to the work and the results we’ve seen thus far.”
They note how when it comes to “official devices” from big, well known platforms, they’re able to accurately detect them and “understand the intent behind their use.” Further than this, Embark said that their partners at Anybrain are regularly updating their information on different forms of accessibility hardware, so hopefully over time there should be no problems if you use any.
Lastly, Embark touched on ban appeals, where they explained that every single appeal is reviewed by a person of the anti-cheat team. They wrote that it isn’t an automated process, and that their team looks into each case to “ensure fair gameplay and to test and refine the systems and models that have been put in place to keep the game fair and fun.”
There’s no perfect solution to solving cheating in games (though I personally advocate for a little bit of shaming those that do), so perhaps, if you can manage, you’ll just have to afford Arc Raiders a little bit of patience until Embark get their ducks in a row.
