The other day I was winding down by playing Overwatch, zipping around as Tracer yelling quintessentially English quips like “cheers love!” to wash away the stress of another long day. Blam! out of nowhere, a Hanzo arrow struck, right in the head, pinpoint aim from the other side of the map. I couldn’t believe it, what a shot! I had been using my blink to speed through enemy fire surely no one could have hit me? I soon heard the cries of my teammates down the microphone “Hanzo’s hacking! He’s using an aimbot” watching the killcam proved to be pretty damning for poor old Hanzo too when his bow magically snapped onto my forehead… how annoying. After the game I added the Hanzo to my friends list to ask him one simple question before I reported him “why did you hack?” to which he replied “I don’t know“.
So why do people hack in online games such as Overwatch surely they’re only kidding themselves? The idea of cheating in anything is something I’ve always failed to wrap my head around, possibly because I’m not really a competitive person and Esports are essentially just as competitive as any real kind of sport. Online hacking is a plague right now in riff-raff games of Overwatch but now hacking accusations are even managing to tar pro players reputations. There’s a lot of controversy at the moment within real world sports where athletes have been doping in order to improve their performance and take their game to the next level. Obviously attempting to alter your body by using illegal means is more serious than installing an “aimbot” to your PC but when you’re playing for real sums of money there’s a lot at stake. According to UNESCO there are three main motivators in the act of cheating these are: “Prizes, Money and fame“, “Pressures from coaches, Parents or themselves to be the best” and “injury“. Now obviously the last doesn’t really apply to the situation apart from wrist and eye strain, but the first two definitely give us some insight into why people might cheat in online games at a professional level. In terms of professional Esports there’s a definite incentive to cheat for money, next month for example there’s an ESL Overwatch tournament that has a prize pool of $100,000 and it’s easy to see how this kind of cash might tempt players into doing whatever they can, fair or not, to win.
It’s clear to see why people might be tempted to cheat when money is involved but that raises the question of why people would use unfair means in casual games? There’s no real blow if you lose, you don’t know your teammates and have no obligation to them and your not missing out on an awful lot other than some XP, in fact if you enjoy the game the only thing you risk is losing your privilege to play it. In a BBC interview, mental performance coach “Andy Barton” sheds some light on the subject in a succinct but candid way,
“People have and continue to do what they can get away with”
So is it just a case of levelling the playing field? Sometimes cheaters rationalise their decisions by internalising the idea that they have an innate deficit or handicap and that they are doing the right thing by giving themselves a little boost. The logic behind this is obviously flawed but with the abundance of online hacks and the ease of which they can be purchased and installed, I’m sure those who feel this way may be inclined to part with some cash to enhance their online performance.
Hacking is a real problem right now in games like Overwatch and not just because they ruin your fun online. Hacking tears apart the sense of community that develops around these games and it would be a shame to see that disappear. I’m starting to see evidence of a kind of mob mentality online, a Salem witch trials kind of situation where really good players are being called out and reported because another team felt a little salty. We’ve seen it recently in pro games too when top Zarya player “Gegury” was forced into the spotlight after being falsely accused of cheating (she actually just kicks ass at Zarya) two other pro players simply couldn’t believe her level of skill to be natural even though it was. In conclusion People hack because they can, because they believe it makes them better, because it helps them to win… The irony is that the only real loser is someone who spoils someone else’s fun.
RSS