How do aimbots work?

[Kaedi-11739]

There are three common kinds of aimbots, “direct”, “triggerbots”, and “pixel scanning”. I am going to give a basic description of how they behave and what you should look for if you suspect someone as cheating. Be warned, if I see anyone providing direct details of how to install or use a cheat, I immediately alert Blizzard Customer Service of such a post as this is strictly forbidden on the forums and will result in both a forum and in-game permanent ban.

Direct Aimbots work by reading data directly from the game client, and determines where to position the cursor based on that information. Triggerbots have no aiming mechanism, but instead will automatically fire when the player naturally moves the cursor over a valid target. Pixel Scanning works by not interfering with the game client at all, but instead extrapolates visual output information to identify the red color targets. All of these cheats require the installation of unauthroized third-party software.

Behaviors of an aimbot can vary! Furthermore, players often accuse others of cheating simply after reviewing the kill cam. While the kill cam is helpful for a player to make a determination to suspect a player of cheating, the kill cam is often extremely inaccurate. My recommendation is look for continuous consistent performance from the suspected player. Also track their positioning, more often than not, cheating players tend to have blatantly bad positioning consistently throughout the match (overextended, often can make multiple hits from extremely distant locations, etc.) Blatent signs of cheating are instant 180 kills (where the cheater can consistantly turn around and hit the head everytime, extremely high accuracy (watch for post game cards that report this stat), or can hit every hero with little to no repositioning.

Other cheats to watch out for

Other types of cheats include “wallhacks”, where a player can track positions from the enemy players at all times (not to be confused with Widowmaker’s Infra-sight or Venom Mine abilities or Hanzo’s Sonar Arrow ability). “Nukes” which is an act of attempting to DDoS an entire server to force disconnect other players (these virtually never happen anymore but used to be a really bad problem in Korea from what I understand). There is, unfortunately, a problem specifically on the Xbox platform where if a person accepts an Xbox Live Party Chat request, they could inadvertently be giving up their own IP address to another player and that may result in a direct peer-to-peer nuking attempt, but this is not a direct attack on an Overwatch game server. (Click here to learn more information on that.) “Stat Trackers” was a trending way to play a more informative game of Overwatch as that software would screen record information and extrapolate data to provide strategies and advice for the player. They were all banned entirely because some of them would work and provide information as the game was in progress. Finally, in-game exploits where a discovered bug may result in a tactical advantage over the enemy team or lock the match into a stalemate. Wall breaches are often the most common cause of an exploit but on occasion, there are more hilarious ones like the flying Mei bug from about a year ago.

Reporting

If you suspect a player of cheating, whether it be by aimbots, wallhacks, exploiting in-game bugs, etc. please take the time to report them using the in-game report tool. If you come across any information about any hacks for Overwatch, DO NOT ATTEMPT to install or use them! Instead, report those hacks in an e-mail to hacks@blizzard.com (note any emails sent to this address will not receive a direct response). If you see an in-game bug with high exploit potential, either email hacks@blizzard.com or start a topic in the Bug Report forum. If you do post a topic in the bug report forum, first write out careful details about the bug, specify in the title something like “Critical Exploit” or the likes, then quickly post the topic, then click the Trash Can icon or the Pencil icon and remove/edit out the posted information immediately. The Blizzard Quality Assurance team who monitor the Bug Report forum can look at past revisions of the post to look up your information. (See this thread as an example.)

In-Game Responses to Cheats

Your reports do matter and really help identify players who are cheating. In the event that your report helps lead to a person to be confirmed to be cheating, you will see a green-colored message appear when you first log onto the game (different from the blue-colored one which is for abusive chat and gameplay sabotage violations).

In the event that the game client itself detects cheating, your match may be canceled entirely (declared “no contest”, no loss/gain of skill rating). If so you will see this message:

Official Statement from Blizzard about Cheating

See Blizzard’s official statement about Cheating which I have archived from the old forums here:

@Community Manager Lylirra

We’ve always taken cheating in Blizzard games very seriously, and that stance is no different for Overwatch. “Play nice; play fair” is one of our core values as a company, and it’s something we’ve taken to heart not only when designing the game, but also as we’ve developed our plans to support it and our players after launch.

What does this mean for Overwatch? If a player is found to be cheating—or using hacks, bots, or third-party software that provides any sort of unfair advantage—that player will be permanently banned from the game. Full stop. Not only does cheating undermine the spirit of fair play that all of our products are based on, but it works to diminish the fun and enjoyment of others. While we are unlikely to publicly acknowledge when accounts are closed as a result of cheating or using unauthorized programs, we have and will continue to monitor Overwatch for exploitative behavior, as well as take action as needed to preserve the integrity of game.

These assertions aren’t new or groundbreaking for Blizzard, but they’re important and serve as a reminder of our commitment to delivering epic gameplay experiences. For us, it’s not just about creating awesome games, but about supporting those games and their communities for years to come. The upcoming launch of Overwatch on May 24 is in many ways just the beginning, and we’re doing all that we can to prepare for that milestone and (perhaps more importantly) what comes after—not just in terms of new game content, but also how we can ensure a fair and equitable play environment for everyone.

So, how can you help?

How to Report Cheating in Overwatch

If you believe another player is cheating or you have information pertaining to the use of hacks, bots, or unauthorized third-party software in Overwatch, please contact us at hacks@blizzard.com. Although you won’t receive a response, our dedicated team of engineers and analysts actively monitor this inbox for your reports. In fact, thanks to reports submitted during the beta, we’ve already made improvements to the game as well as removed players who were found to be cheating.

In addition, by popular request, we will also be including an option to report players for potential cheating directly through the game client. This option will be available at launch and can be accessed through the normal right click > “Report” menu.

Things to Keep in Mind When Reporting Potential Cheating

Encountering another player who you believe is cheating can be an incredibly frustrating experience, but in a game like Overwatch, we ask that you keep the following considerations in mind:

• Our in-game camera system does not always play back footage at the same fidelity as real-time gameplay (this loss in fidelity applies to the killcam, Plays of the Game, Highlights, and—to a lesser extent—the spectator camera as well). This can sometimes result in a player’s aim appearing more snappy or less fluid in playback than it did in-game.

• With the above, there may be bugs with the in-game camera system that affect playback footage. In the Closed Beta, we actually had a bug that caused the killcam and spectator camera angle to suddenly “snap” whenever Zarya cast Particle Barrier or Projected Barrier. While we’re unaware of any issues with the camera system at present, undiscovered bugs are always a possibility to consider.

• Lastly, some players are just really good at first-person shooters. Through practice and years of experience, these players’ movements and reaction times can occasionally appear unnatural (if not physically impossible) to those who may not have been exposed to that particular level of play before.

It’s important to note that while video evidence from killcams, Plays of the Game, Highlights, and other community captured footage can be very helpful, we will never use it alone to verify whether or not cheating is taking place. As a result, we encourage players to play nice, play fair and avoid publicly accusing individuals of cheating whenever possible and instead use the reporting methods detailed above.

Thank you for your vigilance, passion, and commitment to helping us make Overwatch the best game it can be. We’ll see you May 24!