Titanfall Strikes Back at Cheaters

Titanfall's developer Respawn Entertainment has launched what they refer to as the "Wimbledon of aimbot contests" with their new update to counter cheating in the game's multiplayer.

Players using third-party cheats will be moved into a pool composed only of cheaters, according to an update on the Titanfall website. "Great news: you get to keep playing Titanfall! Less-great news: you only get to play with other cheaters," Respawn tells potential cheaters, "Hopefully the aimbot cheat you paid for really is the best, or these all-cheater matches could be frustrating for you."

Probably the most anticipated shooter of the year, Titanfall has been receiving praise and critical acclaim from nearly every direction, and it's  no surprise that developers want to keep it that way. Respawn's solution to cheating follows to some degree in the footsteps of Steam's Valve Anti-Cheat system, which bans cheaters immediately from all VAC-protected servers.

However, Respawn has clearly chosen a slightly more subtle - and arguably crueler - approach to the problem of keeping multiplayer fair. Those suspected of cheating will be alerted in the private lobby with the notification "FairFight: Cheat Detected", and will automatically be placed in the cheater pools, preventing them from playing in games with rule-abiding players.

But cheaters will still be able to form groups with non-cheating friends; except, these players will now also automatically be added to the cheating pool for as long as they're playing with a cheater. Once they "stop inviting [their] cheater friend, [they] will once again get to play with the non-cheater population." 

So not only does it not pay to cheat in Titanfall, it also doesn't pay to hang out with someone who does either.