Survival MMO "Once Human": 10-year ban for 430 cheaters
The free-to-play survival MMO "Once Human" has only been on the market for a week and the first cheaters are already being banned. They are blocked for 10 years
The developers of "Once Human" are taking decisive action against cheaters right from the launch.
(Image: Starry Studio)
The developers of the multiplayer game "Once Human" are cracking down on cheaters: Just one week after release, they have published a list of a total of 430 cheaters who have already been discovered and banned.
The punishment for the cheaters is severe. They are no longer allowed to access their accounts for ten years – that's more or less life in a video game. However, this is unlikely to bother most cheaters. Because "Once Human" is free to play, they can create new accounts at any time. This is why the fight against cheaters in Free2Play games is usually particularly difficult.
The approach taken by the developers of the survival MMO is also interesting because the list of banned cheaters, including their nicknames, has been published in full. Only the second and third digits of the nickname have been made unrecognizable. Anyone who has played with a cheater could still identify their cheating opponent on the list.
Public battle against cheaters
"Once Human" is a multiplayer shooter with survival and sci-fi elements that was released on Steam on July 9. The title quickly became popular due to the interesting combination of genres and the free access to the game. It is currently in 9th place on Steam's top seller list. The game is financed via microtransactions for cosmetic items.
A decisive approach against cheaters is essential for multiplayer titles that can be financed in the long term via in-game purchases. Because cheaters spoil the fun for other players, they can jeopardize the financial success of such games. This can be seen in the case of "The Cycle". After a successful launch, the online shooter from German studio Yager rapidly lost players because there were simply too many cheaters. "The Cycle" was never able to recover from this.
On the one hand, developers need to block cheaters. On the other hand, they also need to give their community the feeling that the cheater problem is being tackled with commitment. This is one reason why anti-cheat measures are often published in detail – as the developers of "Once Human" are now doing.
(dahe)