Federal Courts in the United States and Germany have ruled in favor of Tencent Games and KRAFTON, Inc. in their cases against members of a hacking group. In a decisive reproach of the defendants’ activities of creating and distributing hacks and cheats that provide their users an unfair advantage when playing PUBG MOBILE, the defendants are ordered to pay Tencent Games and KRAFTON around $ 10 million (U.S. dollars) in damages. The defendants are further ordered to cease future illegal activities involving game cheating, as well as provide details of how they exploited PUBG MOBILE and about any collaborators.
Tencent Games and KRAFTON will invest any recovered funds in further development of anti-cheating technology in PUBG MOBILE.
These rulings are not only a resounding win for Tencent Games and KRAFTON but for the broader video game industry and its collective battle against illegal hack and cheat creators.
“Millions of players worldwide enjoy PUBG MOBILE and we will ensure a level playing field for everyone. Sadly, the actions of hacker groups undermine the fairness of the game. These Judgements send a clear message that we will not tolerate cheating in PUBG MOBILE,” stated Rick Li, Producer of PUBG MOBILE, Tencent Games.
“This legal victory bolsters our collective commitment to fiercely protect our games, PUBG IP and global community,” said Minu Lee, Head of PUBGM Product Management at KRAFTON, Inc. “Fun and fairness is the bedrock of the PUBG MOBILE experience and cheating in any form will not be tolerated. As such, we will continue enforcing our IP rights with unwavering resolve against any who seek to tarnish or misuse them.”
These lawsuits highlight an on-going commitment to combat cheating and come after the shutdown of the world’s biggest video game cheating operation based within China in March of last year and several global hacking groups abandoning cheats for PUBG MOBILE. Measures employed to identify and prevent cheating include: continued investment in technology to improve replay screening and evaluation; more penalties for players found exploiting cheats, including isolated match-making and collaborating with members of the community to make the reporting process simpler.
Furthermore, PUBG MOBILE has recently launched one of its strictest anti-cheating measures – the device ban feature. The PUBG MOBILE security team will identify the devices of users who deliberately cheat and continue to adversely affect the gaming environment. Once verified as being used for malicious purposes, the player’s device will be banned permanently, and it will no longer be possible to log into the game or create a new account on that device.
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