A reader is upset at the number of cheats in games like Call Of Duty and Halo Infinite and blames not being able to turn off cross-play.
Like many, I have been enjoying the free multiplayer of Halo Infinite recently and very much approve of its back-to-basics approach, which is some of the most fun I’ve had with an online shooter in a good few years. However, I was not in the least bit surprised to read a story saying that the game has already been compromised by cheaters and even less surprised to find that said cheats were PC gamers.
As far as I am concerned cross-play between console and PC gamers is the worst idea to happen in video games since the loot box. Cross-play between PlayStation and Xbox is fine… there’s never much difference between the consoles and they both have similar controllers. But PCs are just a fundamentally different kind of format and it’s much easier to modify a game with them, which is why people find it so easy to cheat on them.
So easy that they managed to get cheats working during Call Of Duty: Vanguard’s beta and within a few days of Halo Infinite going live. Considering how much both publishers have talked about trying to stop cheaters the fact that they so comprehensively failed, so quickly, just goes to show how bad the problem is.
The thing I don’t understand is who asked for any of this? I don’t know any PC gamers that are desperate to play with console gamers. If you have a gaming PC I would imagine you would want to hang around with and play with others that had a similar set-up to you. I mean, surely you don’t buy an expensive gaming PC just to then have to play with people who are stuck at 30fps or low resolution or whatever limitation there is for a particular game.
There aren’t thousands of PC gamers signing petitions, demanding they be able to play with console gamers, so why do publishers usually refuse to allow us to turn off cross-play? It’s not a preference, it’s the difference between being able to play the game as normal and giving up because the game is infested with cheats and people going on about the ‘PC master race’ (comparing yourself to Nazi ideology, keep it classy PC gamers!).
I gave up playing Call Of Duty a month or so ago because of all the cheats and while I don’t miss it that much I will be absolutely gutted if I have to do the same with Halo Infinite, because I’m really enjoying it at the moment. You know, except for those matches where people start walking through walls or zero in on me instantly from the other side of the map.
Although to be honest, I also resent the fact that they’re all using a mouse, which allows you to turn around so quickly. What’s the point of playing a multiplayer game when the two sides are so unevenly matched before they’ve even started? Yes, there’s a work around to keep out keyboard users in Ranked matches but I shouldn’t have to be using an obscure fix to play the sort of game I want. You know, the sort where everyone is on the same level and doesn’t have an unfair advantage.
I don’t want to play with PC gamers. I don’t want to play with them because they cheat and I don’t want to play with them because the control system they prefer is fundamentally different to the one consoles use.
I’m not suggesting PC gamers are evil and console gamers are angels. Console gamers do cheat and have no qualms about doing so. However, this tends to involve buying extra hardware and is much less prevalent. Importantly though, the machine you’re playing on doesn’t make it easy for you.
I want to play a fair game of Halo with no cheats and that means being able to turn cross-play off. If publishers like Microsoft don’t realise how important this is then online gaming as a whole is going to suffer, as cheats ruin game after game and console gamers are unable to do anything about it.
By reader Casper
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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