EA is planning to get serious about cheats and trolls in Battlefield 2042, as they also confirm no mouse and keyboard support for consoles.
Call Of Duty has never been more popular and yet the series, both the paid-for versions and Warzone, have almost been brought to their knees by cheaters, with even the Vanguard beta having multiple reports of people cheating in it.
With the hype for new game Vanguard noticeably lower than usual EA are clearly hoping that, with the release of Battlefield 2042, this is the year that they finally become the number one military shooter – but that’s not going to happen if they have similar problems with cheats.
That’s largely a technical problem, that won’t properly be tested until the game launches, but EA has today posted a Battlefield Community Charter that outlines how they expect players to behave in terms of not cheating and not harassing other people.
The whole charter goes into considerable detail, with a lot of emphasis on ‘Positive Play’ but in terms of cheating EA has confirmed that it has ‘teams dedicated to preventing, identifying, and sanctioning cheaters’.
They’ll also be using the Easy-Anti Cheat (EAC) tool, which they already make use of in the likes of Apex Legends and Star Wars: Squadrons.
Anyone caught cheating will be instantly disconnected from a match and permanently banned on all formats, including IP and hardware bans if necessary.
Battlefield 2042 will operate a zero tolerance policy, with no warnings or suspensions, just an instant, permanent ban (although you will be able to appeal if you think you’ve been wrongly accused).
The EAC tool will be in place for the open beta, planned for October 6 to 10, so considering what happened with Vanguard it should be obvious right away whether EA’s measures are enough.
No specific mention is made of separating PC players from console owners, despite the PC format being easier to hack, but EA has confirmed that there’ll be no mouse and keyboard support for consoles at launch – although they’re not ruling it out for later.
The rest of the charter is concerned with general etiquette and how to report harassment, although it’s a little sad that players have to be reminded not to blackmail, dox, or threaten to murder each other.
That’s the reality of online gaming today though and EA are warning that while instant bans won’t necessarily follow for harassment – and suspensions will be an option – repeat or severe offenders will have their account permanently terminated.
After a last minute delay Battlefield 2042 will be released on November 19 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
However, if you buy the Gold or Ultimate Editions then you can play the game a week earlier on November 12.
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