Unique Punishment Created For Chinese EVE Online Cheaters

These days, there seems to be a constantly increasing number of cheaters in online games. The response to these cheaters is pretty standardized, with many games giving players chat restrictions, temporary bans, or with the worst offenses, issuing permanent bans. In what might be among the most bizarre punishments, EVE Online is apparently planning to throw Chinese cheaters into space labor camps!

EVE Online dataminers who scanned through the latest updates pushed onto the test server, found the inclusion of data strings which hinted at some form of prison system where players had to complete forced labor in order to gain their freedom. Needless to say, many fans were pretty alarmed at the news.

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Image Source: CCP Games

Kotaku reached out to the developer of EVE Online, CCP Games, for comment on this rather unconventional punishment system. In response, CCP Games noted that these changes were strictly intended for the Chinese market. NetEase, the Chinese publisher which has partnered with CCP Games to bring the title into the Chinese market, has used similar punitive measures in other games that it has licensed.

NetEase noted to Kotaku the following:

“After the new EVE Online China beta is launched later this year, it will be synchronized with NetEase’s Guardhouse System. This system draws on the punishment mechanism of other titles by NetEase Games.”

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While rampant cheating is a major problem throughout many games, China as a country, has become rather notorious as the birth place of many cheating programs. Even with the Chinese government actively taking part in shutting down these organizations, there is still a huge market for cheat tools that some nationals can’t resist capitalizing on.

It appears that NetEase has found some success with their “forced labor” style of punishment for the Chinese market, and as such, it makes sense for them to continue adopting the strategy for EVE Online. It’s highly unlikely such a system would ever make its way towards western audiences. Still, it does leave you to wonder: if it works in China, could it work elsewhere? At the end of the day, the objective is to curb cheating. As crazy as a “space jail” sounds, it could just be what other games with tons of cheaters like Fortnite and PUBG need as well.

 


Featured Image Source: Eteknix

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