A new cheat engine that uses machine learning can work on consoles, including Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The anti-cheat watch group ACPD posted its findings on the new tool on Twitter, explaining how it will be difficult for developers to detect.
The tool seems to use a visual feed provided by a capture card (ones like Elgato and AverMedia make) to a PC, which is then analyzed using machine learning to determine targets. All the player needs to do is aim in the general direction of a foe online, with the tool then figuring out precise aiming and even taking the required shots for the kill. The tool can be configured in a bunch of ways, with the video demonstrating how a cheater can increase or decrease the field of view the tool uses to grab targets.
Tools like this are not uncommon on PC, but it’s not something that should be familiar to console players. The closed ecosystems of consoles have made cheating far more challenging, but since this tool only needs a visual feed of what is happening, it will be very difficult for either Sony or Microsoft to prevent. ACPD says it isn’t impossible, but that developers will equally struggle to find a widespread solution to this problem.
Cheating engines like this are especially popular in big online shooters, such as Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone. In April, a developer on Warzone said cheaters were ruining his life’s work, while also eating up resources that could be going towards making the game better.
