"Over the past three decades, cheating has transformed into a sophisticated and constantly evolving industry," says Anybrain CEO and co-founder

Activision's Team Ricochet, which manages Call of Duty's anti-cheat initiative, recently cited data that claimed cheating in games is an $8.5 billion industry.

Earlier this year, threat intelligence platform Intorqa estimated that cheat developers earn approximately $3.5 billion annually from 15 analyzed games. Including services such as spoofing and account sales, the estimate increases to $8.5 billion.

In a blog post, Activision stated that Team Ricochet has "disrupted more than 375 reseller operations, issued more than 80 cease-and-desist demands, and helped shut down 31 primary cheat vendors." Last month, the team issued over 70,000 new hardware bans as part of its anti-cheat efforts.

Anti-cheat solutions provider Anybrain also referenced Intorqa's data in its recent whitepaper, 'The Rise of Cheating As A Service.'

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Anybrain CEO and co-founder André Pimenta Ribeiro said "malicious actors have turned cheating in online video games into a successful business, commonly known as Cheating as a Service."

"Over the past three decades, cheating has transformed into a sophisticated and constantly evolving industry. Modern methods frequently use generative AI, real-time problem-solving tools, hidden hardware, and digital identity spoofing to bypass security systems."

"This rapid shift gives bad actors a major advantage: they can quickly adjust their cheating tools to counter anti-cheating software, threatening the reliability of modern solutions and eroding revenue and player trust. No single tool can solve this anymore, which is why the studios seeing the best results are the ones treating security as part of their tech stack, not a silver bullet."

Anybrain commissioned a survey of 250 developers in the US and UK who have launched online competitive multiplayer games.

Conducted by Atomik Research, the survey found that 69% of studios consider cheating a "significant or very significant problem," and over half reported "measurable decreases in player retention or revenue loss."

"If cheating becomes too excessive, it can significantly hurt player loyalty and the title's lifetime value (LTV), causing players to abandon the game for one with a better reputation," said Anybrain.

76% of respondents have implemented anti-cheat measures, with most using multiple solutions, "suggesting that a security tech-stack approach to anti-cheat is the preferred way to deal with cheating in gaming."

24% have not implemented anti-cheat solutions. The main reason, cited by 25%, is that they "have not found an anti-cheat that works yet," followed by concerns about community feedback and a belief that cheating is not an issue (22%).

Among these developers, 69% "reported never having implemented anti-cheat into their game before," while 31% "had previously implemented anti-cheat and later had to remove it" due to negative impacts on performance, interference with game design, or lack of effectiveness.

93% have established a dedicated anti-cheat team within their studio, similar to Activision's Team Ricochet.

88% plan to increase anti-cheat investment over the next 12 months. Among those in the process of implementing one, 47% said they could do so because they had received a dedicated budget.

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