Rockstar Cracking Down on Cheaters in GTA Online

It's hardly news that some companies are more forgiving than others, when it comes to hacking, cheating, or using bots. League of Legends developer Riot Games is fairly forgiving, for example, usually issuing warnings or light punishments, hesitating on that permanent ban. Conversely, Blizzard has a zero-tolerance policy, and the moment you decide to use a hack or attempt to cheat, Blizzard will not only ban you from the game you're playing, they very well might stop you from playing ANY of their games, with little hope of ever returning. You can argue the merits of which system works best, but for Rockstar, and Grand Theft Auto Online, the answer is clear: things are fairly loose, with players able to cheat, mod, and exploit without much concern.

And boy, have they.

To help cull this influx of cheaters and hackers, Rockstar has recently tightened its rules and cracked down on hackers and cheaters, removing "trillions" of in-game money earned illegitimately from the bank accounts of players. On top of this, they're turning their three-strike policy and turning it into a two-strike one, where your first offense will prompt a suspension, while the second will get you a ban.

Will these measures be enough to curb the lawlessness of the GTA servers? I doubt it. While hackers are currently scrambling to figure out how Rockstar detects their mods, it's only a matter of time before they figure it out, which will, of course, embolden people. But then, there are still cheaters and hackers on games like Overwatch, so it doesn't really matter how strict you are: there'll always be that one fellow who thinks they can beat the odds.

Still, good to see Rockstar doing SOMETHING.