Kaspersky finds that 92% of esports pros are against cheating to win

Woburn, MA, Nov. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A Kaspersky survey has revealed that the majority of professional gamers stand for fair play and competition. According to the study, 92% of North American esports pros and 68% of esports pros globally agree that using cheats is inappropriate, even if it means their team can win.

Cheating is not uncommon in the gaming world. According to a recent Omdia study, “Cheating, hacking, piracy and esports: critical steps needed to protect the industry”, 81% of respondents reported cheating or hacking in esports as either a “major” or “moderate” concern .

The Kaspersky survey found that cheating can even cause negative emotions in players: 86% of global professional players (75% of North American players) admit that they get angry when another player blatantly cheats. Additionally, 76% of global players (67% in North America) said that using cheats or loopholes only shows that a player is not good enough to win honestly.

Most of the players also said that the industry must do more to stop cheaters. 92 percent globally and 75 percent in North America said they believe game providers should do more to prevent players from using cheats in their games.

“Cheating can negatively affect the performance of players’ computers, or lead to leaks of data and game resources,” said Marina Titova, vice president of consumer product marketing at Kaspersky. “Such scenarios can happen because cheat codes often contain malicious files and programs. Moreover, cheating creates a trust problem between players, game providers and platforms. Players are not happy when someone has an illegal advantage over honest players and expect game manufacturers and platforms to create conditions for fair play .

The full report is available here.

To maintain a high level of performance and security, Kaspersky recommends the following:

• It is safer to buy games only on official websites and wait for sales. They take place quite often, so you won’t be sitting on your hands for long.
• Try to avoid buying the first thing that pops up. Even during Steam’s summer sale, before you fork over the dough for a little-known title, at least read a few reviews of it. If something is fishy, ​​people are likely to figure it out.
• Beware of phishing campaigns and unknown players. It’s a good idea to double-check the website you’re being redirected to via a link in an email you receive and the file type you’re opening.
• Reliable security solutions can support specific modes made for gamers. For example, “Gaming” and “Do not disturb” modes in the new Kaspersky solutions turn on automatically while users are playing games, watching movies or on a video call, and turn off when they are done. When apps intended for work, study or play are used, the appropriate mode activates itself, hiding tasks and notifications. Users receive critical security alerts only when their attention is needed.

In the report, Kaspersky defined the following player categories:

• Sports Benefits: View game performance as extremely or very important; have participated in tournaments at least once in the last two years; either builds an income from gaming, or aims to make money from it.
• Sports Amateurs: Has participated in tournaments at least once in the last two years and enjoys participating in tournaments and competitions; DO NOT look for opportunities to monetize their gameplay
• Hardcore players: Play at least 20 hours per week
• Gadget players: Invest a high or very high amount of money to improve their gaming performance (hardware / training / nutrition, etc.).
• Gaming influencers: Stream at least once a month; have a minimum of 1000 followers.
• Top gaming influencers: Stream at least once a week and have at least 10,000 followers.

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transformed into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers worldwide. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a range of specialized security solutions and services to combat sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies, and we help 240,000 business customers protect what matters most to them. Learn more at usa.kaspersky.com.