Tencent has teamed up with Chinese authorities to bust a massive cheat distributing operation called Chicken Drumstick. The cheat maker reportedly sold cheats for popular mobile and PC games, including the likes of Valorant, Overwatch, Call of Duty mobile and more.
Some of those games, of course, are published by Tencent, and the giant publisher has been working with Kunshan police to track down and bust this group. According to BBC, the group made $76 million in revenue over the course of its life, mostly from recurring subscription fees - a model popular today among cheat makers.
Some of these subscriptions could go as high as $200 per month. The police arrested ten people, found 17 cheats, and seized several sports cars from the group’s garage. Chinese authorities called it the “world’s biggest” cheating case.
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Cheaters never prosper what a big win pic.twitter.com/WBfkjNiP2g
— Anti-Cheat Police Department 🕵️ (@AntiCheatPD) March 28, 2021
The effects of cheating in competitive games have never been more pronounced. Big games like Warzone continue to struggle with it, with developers always playing catch up. Some have even taken cheat makers to court, most notably with Bungie and Riot teaming up to sue Destiny 2 and Valorant cheat maker.
Riot itself has had its own problems with Riot Guard anti-cheat software, whose invasive nature and ability to block suspicions apps from launching on a PC where it’s installed have been called out by many.
