ARC Raiders shares new anti-cheat update amid growing player concerns

As concerns continue to grow over persistent cheaters ARC Raidersdeveloper Embark Studios has shared a much-needed update on the shooter's anti-cheat. ARC Raiders has been a huge success for Embark Studios, but a steady decline in player numbers over the past few weeks can be attributed to the high number of cheaters in the game. Thankfully, Embark says it's currently testing a new core-level anti-cheat that will “sharpen both detection and precision.”

Just like other live service titles with a huge player base, such as Call of Duty or Battlefield, ARC Raiders have run into a serious cheating problem. Whether it's in-game exploits that allow players to step outside the box or third-party software that gives players a huge advantage over their opponents, casual players and content creators alike have been calling for a serious change. Earlier this year, Embark said it had seen the conversations surrounding cheating and took the issue “very seriously”. The studio also confirmed that it would implement significant changes to its rulesets and deploy new detection mechanics to better identify and remove cheaters.

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ARC Raiders is testing new anti-cheat at the core level

While these changes seemed promising, fighting cheaters in a live service title will forever be a never-ending battle. To further address the issue, Embark has shared a new blog post dedicated to ensuring fair play ARC Raiders. The studio began by describing how its current anti-cheat system works, saying the system combines core-level protection from Easy Anti-Cheat with detection capabilities powered by machine learning (ML) models, trained on a constant stream of player telemetry. There are also several other layers, but details could not be shared for operational security reasons. Embark also touched on why it needs to use anti-cheat at the core level, which is often controversial due to having such high access to a user's computer. “Detection at the core level is a necessity because most commercial cheats operate in that space. Without it, we would have little or no visibility into the tools that do the most damage,” the studio said.

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The post goes on to explain that Embark is also currently testing a new core-level solution that should “sharpen both detection and precision across Speranza and the Rust Belt.” On the machine learning side, the team says input telemetry analysis has become one of its most effective tools to combat cheaters in ARC Raiders.

A large part of the post also touches on accessibility, likely due to one player going viral on Reddit after being wrongly banned in ARC Raiders due to their use of an accessibility controller. Embark said managing accessibility devices is “one of the more difficult problems” when it comes to anti-cheating, noting how lesser-known devices are used to help those who need them, but can also be used to cheat. “The signal we care about is intent,” Embark said, before noting how its system analyzes telemetry and communication patterns to distinguish legitimate accessibility use from abuse, so players who depend on those devices to play can keep playing.

Embark notes that they continue to work with their partners at Anybrain to continually expand the accuracy and knowledge of various accessibility devices to understand the intent behind their use. The team says detection will become smarter, more reliable and more accessible over time.

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Cheating is a problem that affects all players, but it has been extremely widespread for streamers and content creators. Ninja recently stopped streaming temporarily due to the large amount of cheaters ARC Raidersand the game's biggest streamer right now, TheBurntPeanut, has previously threatened to quit the shooter if the issues aren't fixed.