Cheating in online gaming is a widespread issue, with some reports suggesting up to 20% to 40% of players in certain online games have engaged in cheating. These hacks, bugs or software designed to give players an unfair advantage have financial implications for video game studios that need to expend more resources on detection and prevention measures. It can also undermine community sentiment and trust in a video game, leading gamers to label it as a ‘game full of cheaters’, thus hindering sales and preventing the community from growing.
We spoke to Alberto, a medical student who experienced a lot of stress due to his workload at university, and used gaming as an escape when things got a bit too hectic. He started cheating when he was in middle school, connecting his behaviour to perceptions of self-worth. This interview originally took place in December 2022.
Hi Alberto, thanks for speaking with us. When did you first start gaming?
Alberto: Gaming started for me at a young age when I was introduced to a lot of single player games on handheld consoles like the Game Boy Advance. In middle school, which was around the early 2000s, I got into multiplayer games like the original Call of Duty. For me it was a good way to relieve any stress I was feeling, and a good way to hang out with friends online.
And how did you first find out about cheats?
Alberto: One day during middle school, a friend invited me to his house and was like, “Hey, wanna see something cool on Call of Duty?” And he showed me some of the bots and scripts he was using. I saw how he was getting an advantage and thought, “Oh, maybe I could use this stuff to play better too.”
When you first had that thought about getting an advantage, did it ever cross your mind that you might be making the gaming experience worse for other players?
Alberto: Looking back, I didn’t really think much of it at the time. It didn’t cross my mind that it was wrong. Instead I saw it as something cool, something to try to use to have fund while playing online. But later in high school where a lot of people were really into competitive online multiplayer games, and where people started getting more toxic and aggressive with gaming, I started to get an idea that maybe what I was doing wasn’t ethical. But I still found myself using cheats anyway.
How did you get your hands on these cheats?
Alberto: Finding cheats was pretty easy, primarily through forums like Reddit. I never had to pay for them. There are a couple of subreddits that if you dig deep enough, people are willing to share cheats with you. There are also quite a few websites where you can download cheats directly.
So what kind of ethical issues were you thinking about when you were in high school?
Alberto: As I grew older, I did think about the ethical side of things but I think my justification was that it was a relatively safe thing to do. In my head I was thinking, “All I’m doing is playing games online.” I wasn’t a competitive gamer and my thought process was that it felt good. It felt good to win. It felt good to be better than other people. And at the end of the day, I wasn’t really doing anything harmful. I was just having fun on an online game.
Sounds like you got a kick out of cheating.
Alberto: At the time I’d get a dopamine rush of having better stats than everyone else. All those numbers you see on the screen, when you have a really good performance, it felt good. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t using my own skill. It didn’t matter that bots, scripts and hacks were the reason I had such good stats. It gave me gratification. And I wasn’t a professional gamer using it in competition where the stakes are much higher and all eyes are on me.
Did you ever get caught?
Alberto: Well, for me there wasn’t really much on the line. There was little pressure for me to ‘do the right thing’. I’ve had my fair share of banned accounts. If you’re using cheats, you’re eventually going to get caught. But it wasn’t a big deal. If you get banned, it’s as simple as creating a new Gmail account to get back in the game. But to be clear, I didn’t take this attitude towards cheating in other aspects of my life, primarily because I saw gaming as a low stakes outlet for me to pass time and enjoy myself. I never thought about cheating in my high school exams because the stakes were higher. Exam results could impact progress in my life. Gaming couldn’t compare. As I said, it was something I did for a few hours just to have fun and to relax.
When did things start to change for you?
Alberto: As I got a bit older, I stopped getting that dopamine rush and gratification rush I would get back in middle school or early high school. Maybe there’s a point when you grow out of it. For me, there was a lot of internal questioning about priorities in my life, because as you get older, you kinda realise that maybe some of the things you’re doing in your youth aren’t worth your time. Was I cheating to unwind and have fun or was I doing it for people’s approval for people to tell me how good I was?
Do you think there was a deeper psychological catalyst that was driving your behaviour?
Alberto: In school, I never really fit in with the crowd. I was a bit of a late bloomer and I used gaming as an escape. And when I look at it retrospectively, I realise I was associating a lot of my self-worth with gaming. When I was stressed out, I would cheat to make myself feel better. I wanted other people to praise me and to respect me. But eventually I came to understand that the praise and respect I was getting was empty. I wasn’t doing anything to earn it, and I think cheating is quite similar to bullying. Bullies do what they do because of something they’re lacking – maybe pride or confidence. With cheaters, maybe what they’re lacking is a feeling of praise and approval. And that’s why I don’t cheat anymore. It’s a combination of no longer getting that dopamine rush but also understanding myself better.
Game developers seem to be having a hard time catching up with cheaters.
Alberto: Yeah, games and platforms are improving how they safeguard players and they’re really rigorous in cracking down on cheaters. While I don’t cheat anymore, I still find some of my games getting cancelled because others are cheating. I feel like it’s an uphill battle as some gamers will always try to find a workaround.
