In the last four years, multiplayer gaming gained a lot of prominence due to games like PUBG and Fortnite. However, with more and more games like Paladins, Call of Duty: War Zone and COD: Mobile multiplayer gaming is accessible to almost everyone on the planet. Technically, gaming is accessible to 5 billion smartphone users who are not hardcore PC or Console gamers because of COD: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Garena, Clash of Clans, Dead by Daylight, among others.
A group of scientists from the University of Texas, Dallas have come up with an ultimate solution to help stop cheating in multiplayer games, mainly Counter-Strike: Global Offensive aka CG: GO. The researchers from the University of Texas have curated an innovative approach with Artificial Intelligence to detect cheaters in CS: GO.
The first-person shooter Counter-Strike: GO is still available as free-to-play on Steam due to its massive fan base across the world. CS: GO isn’t the first game in the Counter-Strike series and it certainly isn’t the last. Developed by Valve, CS: GO allows players to either be a part of Counter-Terrorists or Terrorists with several locations and specific tasks like defusing bombs or rescuing hostages. The game also allows players to acquire in-game currency which they can use to customize powerful weapons. As the game is widely popular, there are software and cheats available for players to win in the game.
Cheating is heinous malpractice in gaming and eSports Gaming
Md Shihabul Islam, Doctoral Student at UT Dallas computer said, players, can know if the opponents are cheating. However, there are times when the cheating mechanism are so powerful that you can differentiate between a fair game or malpractice. For instance, if a new player is using cheats in fun, he can take down players who have been gaming for the past two decades, this is unfair to the players who represent their teams and countries with their skills.
Cheating also hurts the marketing and selling of the game as players tend to leave the ecosystem if they are continuously defeated due to unfair gameplay. eSports gaming is turning into a profitable industry as its annual revenue is close to $1 Billion. If a single player is cheating, then there is a chance that the entire team will get disqualified from the tournament.
To end the tyranny of cheaters, the researchers have formulated a way where they eliminate the usage of decrypted data. Instead, these 20 researchers developed methods to analyze encrypted data traffic. Dr Latifur Khan, Prof. C.Sc, UT Dallas said players tend to send traffic to a different place, and they are using these characteristics to get hold of people who are cheating. Once they detect the player, they will kick him/her out without a hiccup.
The idea is to keep CS and other MMO games fair and fun for everyone. The researchers also revealed their approach to other MMO games.
