Chris Hooper
Many people happily stream pirated content who would never dream of walking out of their local Walmart with a stolen item under their coat. Similarly, far more people seem ready to cheat when gaming than would admit to not playing fair in their everyday lives. For games providers, that’s a serious problem.
Of course, cheating has been around for as long as rules have existed, but the digital age seems to have amplified the issue. A report by cybersecurity firm Irdeto found that 37% of gamers admitted to at least some level of cheating, with around 12% doing so regularly. The problem has become so rife that a whole parallel economy in tools and modified code exists where unscrupulous gamers can buy abilities never intended to form part of gameplay.
The impact of cheating
It’s easy for cheaters to dismiss their behavior as a victimless crime, but this is far from the case. In-game purchases are increasingly key drivers of revenue for gaming providers – if players are spending money on the black market rather than on legitimate in-game purchases, you’re inevitably hit in the pocket.
An estimated 80% of mobile games currently being developed are multiplayer. As the industry paradigm shifts further towards online gaming, the impact of cheating on games providers is becoming more acute. Law-abiding gamers inevitably become frustrated as they struggle against dishonest opponents equipped with infinite lives or bullets that go round corners. As a result, games with a persistent cheating issue tend to suffer high player churn. They are also likely to receive bad reviews, resulting in fewer new players onboarding.
This can be self-perpetuating, with more and more users dropping out as a game’s virtual world empties and becomes less appealing. Downloadable content, skins, power-ups, and additional items created for purchase then become irrelevant, since nobody is there to buy them. The impact on your ongoing revenue streams is obvious.
Two-Factor Authentication isn't enough
Identifying and banning culprits is important. But unless you have a robust system in place to address multi accounting, cheaters will simply find ways to circumvent the roadblocks in place; such as creating a new account with an alternative email address. What you need is a technology-based solution that can identify repeat offenders and keep them permanently locked out of your platform.
SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) has become a popular means of checking you’re dealing with the real owner of an account. In theory, it can also prevent multi accounting, since if a banned user tries to create a new account using a phone number associated with a banned one, this can be spotted and blocked. However, in reality, 2FA is relatively easy for cheats to circumvent, either by spoofing or by simply getting a second SIM card with a different number.
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Veriff's answer
Veriff’s velocity abuse service offers a more sophisticated solution. It combines proprietary device and network fingerprinting with our cross-linking technology to provide a powerful and efficient tool against multi accounting. By partnering with us, you can identify attempts by cheats and other bad actors to evade bans, at the same time keeping your UX slick for legitimate users.
To find out more about how Veriff’s technology can help you address a range of identity-related issues, download our eBook.
