Cheating in games is an unsaid rule. There has been hardly a sport or a video game that has not seen a player cheat to benefit their team or oneself. Online platforms for gaming are subjected to hacking due to the perpetual presence of glitches. Websites can help a gamer in their gameplay by giving unfair advantages or cheating, as they call it, which can boost the player’s capability compared to their competitors. Cheating in online games is a pretty regular thing, but there are questions on its legality that are asked several times. Let us discuss it.
How does the cheating process take place?
Cheating in online games is common because the cheater does not get caught due to the anonymity clause in the rules and regulations of the game. There are various ways through which a cheater can cheat. The most pursued form is befriending other players beyond the world of gaming to form a formidable team. Unfortunately, this pathway is hard to prevent, and the developers are yet to develop a way to provide complete resistance to it.
Teaming up can only take you a little farther. The most effective and certainly the most attractive form of Cheating in online games is that of hacking. It includes the modification of the files of the software to provide an unfair advantage to the players. In shooting, Wallhacks is sometimes referred to as players who can see their adversaries through the wall. Hacking may also include introducing proxy servers into the game to let the player exercise much greater power than their competitors. A player can hack the system on their own, or some websites can do it for you.
Is it illegal?
The answer to this question might be a bit surprising since this is an unethical activity. It is not illegal, per se. The mentioned statement, however, comes with a clause. Any player cheating to ensure that they can outdo other players in the game by making themselves more powerful is not an illegal activity in the eyes of the law. However, it does not adhere to the rules set by the developers, and if found out, the player might face a lifetime ban from that particular gaming community. But there is no way that one could get a lawsuit filed against them.
The activity becomes illegal once the player starts to make illegitimate money. If the profits made by a player due to cheating affects the gaming company’s net profits, there is a complete chance that a legal and justifiable lawsuit can be filed against you since you are developing a culture of unfair competition. Therefore, one needs to avoid such activities as the results are disastrous, and the companies are extremely unapologetic about punishing the victim.
Thus, Cheating in online games is not illegal. Yet, it is immoral. As long as it does not affect a party on a personal level, it cannot be considered under any jurisdiction.