Outriders releases in less than a week and if you were planning on cheating, be warned: You’ll be forever branded a dirty cheater and won’t be able to play with rule-following players via matchmaking.
In a pre-release blog post on Steam, Outriders developer People Can Fly laid out a bunch of information about things like pre-loading, post-launch support, changes made to the game since the demo, and more. One section was dedicated to cheaters. And it seems People Can Fly are serious about cheaters. What’s interesting about this is that Outriders is strictly a co-op and solo online shooter. There is not PVP or competitive aspect to the game.
According to the devs, only about 0.01% of demo players cheated. But to be clear, the studio sees you all. All of you. It even singled out one cheater who gave themselves 600 ill-gotten legendary weapons. That’s impressive! (Contact me if you are reading this, I have questions.)
If you do decide to cheat, you won’t be banned, but you’ll be punished in some other ways. For starters, cheaters will be kept separate from legit players during matchmaking. People Can Fly warns this will probably lead to longer wait times. Also, a small, discreet but easy-to-spot mark will be added to your HUD. So if you are say, a popular streamer, everyone will be able to see you cheated.
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The devs also laid out what they consider cheating. Here’s the list:
- Intentionally running the game on PC without Easy Anti Cheat (EAC)
- Modifying game files to enhance a character: levels, skills, inventory, etc.
- Externally modifying game time to reduce time-dependent features such as vendors and challenges
- Using a trainer program or similar to gain advantages within the game
- Using gameplay altering programs such as aimbots or wallhacks.
If you cheated during the demo, People Can Fly is giving you a chance to repent and wash away your sins. Before starting the full game, which will let players bring over their demo characters and gear, you’ll need to delete all characters and items on your entire account. A full wipe. Do that and your account won’t be branded a cheater.
People Can Fly also clarified that farming for loot isn’t cheating. So feel free to go out looking for Outriders’ loot cave-equivalent. And to be clear, cheating won’t get you banned. So if you only want to play solo or with a friend who also cheats, you can still do that. You’ll be branded a cheater but you probably don’t care anyway!
Outriders is set to launch on April 1 for (deep breath) PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. It will be available on day one on Xbox Game Pass.
