If you’ve ever dabbled in an online multiplayer game, it’s hard not to have suspected that at least one opponent was using some form of cheat. But if you think this is just an isolated incident in your own gaming experience, you’d be mistaken.
Unfortunately, cheats and hacks are common as people look to gain unfair advantages to level up, and this represents a disappointing grey area in the gaming world. But to what degree does this happen? Is it really an exaggeration to say there is an entire cheat industry? What does this actually mean, and how are game developers themselves dealing with the phenomenon?
Behind the Scenes of iGaming
The gaming industry extends far beyond computer multiplayer titles, and online casinos are very much part of this world. Today, there are countless sites with different features and minimum deposits starting from £1. Some are even cheaper. For example, you can see more casinos with a 50p deposit on platforms like Legalbet, which review operators and highlight sites offering these rare options.
In iGaming, cheaters appear differently. Instead of using external programs to gain an advantage over other players, they might use bots to place automatic bets. This is still prohibited, even if the casino’s system itself is not breached.
In video games, “cheats” directly manipulate the system through coding, add-ons and even equipment. In AAA productions, particularly in the Esports scene, anti-cheat measures are becoming increasingly strict, but the battle to eliminate cheating is still far from over.
The Cheat Market
The very existence of a cheat market is, in itself, disappointing. After all, there is no worse feeling than playing against someone who has gained an unfair advantage in a setting where merit, skill, and personal progress should count. Fortunately, however, this problem does not seem to be as prevalent in professional competitions.
In reality, the cheat industry is enormous. Estimates suggest it generates between $12 million and $73 million a year, but most buyers are amateur players or content creators. While there are cases of hacks being used in competitions, such as in CS: GO matches, these instances are relatively rare or they happen in smaller tournaments that are little known internationally.
For example, a notable case involved former player KQLY, who, on his own Facebook page in 2014, admitted to using a system offered by a programmer to gain an advantage in CS: GO. The consequences were severe: his team, Titan, was disqualified from the DreamHack Winter tournament.
There are also more recent cases, though still rare, of cheats being used in professional competitions. For instance:
- Joel “joel”Holmlund (CS2, 2024) — banned by ESIC and CCT after proven use of cheating software;
- Sebastian Araujo (Fortnite, 2025) — fined $175,000 for using hacks in official tournaments;
- Vexoh (Warzone, 2025) — admitted to cheating “out of greed” and was permanently banned;
- Several CS2 players (2025) — suspended by CCT for using illegal programmes or account sharing.
These incidents show that, while uncommon, cheating still occurs even at professional levels.
No One Goes Unpunished
Monitoring, penalties, and the systems used to prevent cheating in professional Esports naturally deter attempts by dishonest players. As a result, anyone still trying to cheat now faces such high costs that it can often outweigh any potential benefit. In amateur play, however, access to relatively cheap solutions is easy.
In games where servers are monitored less strictly and updated less frequently, such as older versions of Call of Duty, multiplayer matches can become a clear example of how chaotic an environment can be without anti-cheat measures. It is practically impossible to go back and play a classic version like Black Ops 1 without running into problems.
Jumping “a few Black Ops” forward, according to Activision itself, 97% of cheaters are banned within 30 minutes, and fewer than 1% even managed to enter a match during testing of Black Ops 7.
Rare Occasions
The situation with cheats in legal online gambling is similar to what happens in professional gaming — such cases are rare. Licensed casinos must adhere to strict regulations, undergo audits, and maintain systems for fraud monitoring and prevention. Since real money is always at stake, these platforms invest heavily in security, anti-fraud AI, and suspicious pattern tracking, which helps to keep cheats at bay.
Stories of fraud are far more common in traditional casinos than online, although they do occasionally occur in the digital environment. A recent example involved dealer Sebastian Echeverri, who used his own accounts to bet on blackjack decks that he had either manipulated or memorised. Interestingly, he was not a player but an employee of an online platform, which makes the case all the more peculiar.
The Shadow Market Everyone Knows About
The cheat market is a reality, and it is hard to believe that cheaters do not try to infiltrate professional tournaments, licensed online casinos, or any other type of virtual game. However, stricter regulations in official competitions and licensed platforms have made such attempts increasingly difficult.
Oversight is tighter, audits are conducted constantly, and the use of anti-fraud technology grows stronger every year. Yet whenever vigilance weakens around a particular game or sector, it creates an opening for those trying to bend the rules, and the cycle begins again.