It was Game Over for what, according to Chinese authorities, was the largest gang of video game hackers in the world. Ten people were arrested for selling counterfeit software for popular games, including Call of Duty and Overwatch.
Authorities seized $ 76 million along with luxury cars and other goods from the alleged illegal company.
Cheating has become an epidemic in Sport, also known as competitive video gaming, and as CBS News’ Lucy Craft reports, that’s made it fertile ground for hacking.
Serkan Toto, a video game analyst, said cheating syndicates like the one in China have been busted and hackers have long been operating with impunity.
“They are extremely professional. If you look at some of the offerings on the website, they have shopping carts, price lists and customer service,” Toto told CBS News. He compared the websites that hackers create and use with Amazon. “Some of these companies [are] raking millions and millions together every month. And the scale is really incredible in some cases, and so are the winnings. ”
China’s crackdown reveals the dark side of it competing video games, where top stars who play solo or in teams earn seven figures.
Online gaming attracts so many eyes, it has become a political tool. Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez streamed himself live on the Twitch gaming platform last year as hundreds of thousands tuned in.
Japan has a whole hotel dedicated to sport-Hotel e-ZONe opened its doors in the Western Japanese city of Osaka last year. Manager Takahiro Shimamoto said most adult customers check into the hotel on Fridays and play all weekend. Sardine-style bunk beds bathed in game arcade lighting are available to guests upstairs.
Most people don’t have lightning fast reflexes like the pro gamers, which makes cheating so irresistible for some. Rather than getting crushed in the competition, using cheats can give gamers a sniper and make them look through walls like superman.
Esports are lagging behind in Japan compared to neighboring South Korea and China where they have seen astronomical growth, but online gamers are known to take shortcuts wherever they are.
“When we first opened [the hotel]”We caught three cheaters,” Shimamoto said.
Nearly half a billion fans are expected to watch Esports this year. With sales in excess of $ 1 billion, overcoming the deceptive scourge of the industry will remain at the forefront.