Esports cheating can be a frustrating experience, whether encountered casually or in live tournaments. It is disheartening to see your hard-earned skills rendered ineffective by someone using cheating software. The prevalence of cheating in esports, dating back to the early days of competitive gaming, has become a major concern in games like Dota and Fortnite.
Cheating scandals in major esports titles such as CS:GO and Dota 2 have been well-handled by organizers in recent years. The availability of sophisticated cheating software in first-person shooters like CS:GO has made it challenging to detect cheaters, leading to incidents like Forsaken being caught cheating at a professional LAN tournament.
In games like DOTA 2, cheating scripts have been used even in high-stakes events like The International. One notable case in Apex Legends saw a hacker remotely enabling cheats on players’ devices during a regional final, highlighting the vulnerability of some games to cheating.
Organizers have taken strict actions against cheaters in esports, issuing bans and disqualifications to maintain the integrity of the competitions. Despite the efforts to combat cheating, some players still attempt to cheat, leading to consequences like bans, disqualifications, and tarnished reputations.
The mentality of cheaters in esports remains a puzzle, with millions of players caught cheating in games like PUBG, Overwatch, and CS:GO. The use of specialist software has made cheating more widespread, but the true challenge and enjoyment of gaming come from fair play and genuine skill, not from using cheats.