After Overwatch faced a major problem with cheaters and hackers in South Korea in 2016 and 2017, Blizzard is now taking strict action against the developers of cheating tools. A new law helps with this. It aims to curb hacking in South Korea.
What happened? In 2016 and 2017, Overwatch had a massive problem with hackers in South Korea. Few play from home in South Korea. Most go to so-called PC Bangs, internet cafes, to play their favorite games. In PC Bangs, the playtime is charged by the hour, and Overwatch itself did not need to be purchased.
And here was the problem: Since users did not own Overwatch themselves, they also did not have to log in with their own Battle.net account, but used free accounts. Cheaters easily switched between free accounts as soon as they were caught and the account was banned.
How Blizzard reacted: To address the cheating problem, Blizzard changed their strategy in PC Bangs. Since February 17, 2017, players in the internet cafes must also log in with their own Battle.net account.
Korean Battle.net accounts require significantly more information than accounts in our regions. For example, it is necessary to provide a social security number for a Korean account. If the account is banned, players would need to provide another social security number to open a new account.
A new law targets hack developers
A law now aims to target the people behind the cheats: While cheating in PC Bangs has become more difficult for players in South Korea, a new law focuses on hack developers. The law from June 2017 explicitly mentions the development of “game hacks” as well as the creation and distribution of private servers.
However, the decree itself has also come under fire, as critics argue it is too broadly defined. Thus, even harmless mods could fall under the scrutiny of investigators.
13 hackers arrested, two receive punishment
Blizzard works with authorities: In early 2018, 13 alleged culprits were arrested in South Korea, who were linked to hacks for Overwatch. Blizzard Korea has been cooperating with the Cyber Security Department of the police authority in Seoul since January 2017.
Two of the culprits have now received their punishment. While one of the two received two years probation, the other hacker must pay a fine of 10 million Won, about 10,000 US dollars.
According to the new anti-hacker law, convicted individuals can face a maximum punishment of nearly 50,000 dollars or five years in prison.
For years, hacks and bots have been developed in Germany as well. However, the company is not doing so well anymore:
WoW: German bot manufacturer Bossland sounds surprisingly depressed
