New cloud-based solution launched to counter cheating in eSports

Kaspersky has taken the first step in protecting fair play in eSports: the company introduced a beta version of its new solution Kaspersky Anti-Cheat to help tournament organizers combat in-game cheating. With this new cloud-based offering, Kaspersky provides real-time cheat detection and shares automated reports with the customer who can then make a disciplinary decision on the rule-breaker. The announcement and presentation of the solution took place at The StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 on September 7, 2019.

Online gamers today are often faced with cheating in games. Only 12% of them have never had their multiplayer gaming experience spoilt by unfair actions of other players, according to the latest Irdeto Global Gaming Survey, while one in three gamers have actually confessed to cheating.

Rule-breakers have the potential to put off fair or professional players from participating in competitions, impacting relationships within the gaming community. As well as this, cheating can affect the popularity and reputation of a tournament, and eventually, reduce the revenue or number of perspective partnerships for the organizers.

To minimize the possibility of unfair behaviour in online eSports competitions, Kaspersky has launched its Anti-Cheat system, which can be easily integrated through the API of the eSports platform, rolled out to players and used to ensure fair play during the online stages of a tournament when it’s especially difficult to monitor cheating.

With this solution in place, to participate in an online competition a player needs to install the Anti-Cheat client distributed by the platform. After installation on the player’s computer, the game process info is collected, sent to the Kaspersky Anti-Cheat cloud and analyzed for suspicious events. At the same time, the tournament referee will receive direct real-time cheat reports via a web interface. Therefore, Kaspersky Anti-Cheat solution provides technical evidence of cheating without taking any actions upon the player but leaving the final decision to the referee and tournament organizers.

Importantly, while ensuring cheat detection, Kaspersky Anti-Cheat puts the user experience first and does not affect the game process or overload traffic.