The Wiggle That Killed Tarkov: Cheats and Hacks

Escape From Tarkov is a popular extraction shooter, and like all games of this genre, it attracts cheaters. Recently, a YouTuber named g0at decided to use his own cheats to expose players using aimbots and wallhacks.

To spot these players, he rapidly shimmied his character left and right. When players peered at him from behind walls and other objects, he saw them wiggle back, indicating they were cheating.

Cheating in Escape From Tarkov

Escape From Tarkov is a gripping and exciting game, with a punishing difficulty curve that offers players a real challenge. Sadly, it also has a cheating problem, with rampant hacks and cheats being used to give players an advantage. The issue is so serious that the developers of the game had to take action.

Content creator g0at recently exposed the cheating in Escape From Tarkov by installing a cheat tool of his own. He then used the tool to tell other players using cheats in the game. He claimed that out of 125 games he played, 60% contained cheaters. This is a staggering figure and shows how much of an impact cheating is having on the game’s competitive multiplayer.

While the issue may not be a surprise to some gamers, it is still upsetting that cheating is so common in Escape From Tarkov. Cheats and hacks allow players to get around the game’s limitations, granting them a range of advantages that would otherwise be impossible in the post-apocalyptic environment. These include being able to fly through the air or invincible to attacks from other players.

This is a significant issue, especially considering that the game is only in early access. It is easy to see how cheating can ruin the experience for honest players, and it is crucial that Battlestate Games do everything they can to tackle the problem.

A recent Reddit update by the studio’s head, Nikita Buyanov, has reassured gamers that the team is working hard on the issue. He claims that the game bans ‘several thousand cheaters a day’ and that all systems involved in catching and banning cheaters are being constantly updated.

However, many players have remained unconvinced by Buyanov’s statement. Several users in the Reddit thread pointed out that other similar updates have been posted before and that the cheating issue isn’t being taken seriously enough by the development studio.

One suggestion that was put forward was to make the use of Tarkov cheats more difficult by requiring verified phone numbers for matchmaking. This is a proven tactic for other games, and it could prove to be an effective deterrent against those willing to cheat in Escape From Tarkov.

The Wiggle That Killed Tarkov

In an effort to combat cheating in Escape From Tarkov, YouTuber g0at created a video that reveals how players can spot other cheaters. He also explains how cheaters can be confirmed by their behavior, which is often far from what any other player would exhibit. It is an extremely unsettling video and one that should prompt Battlestate Games to implement a strict anti-cheat system in their game.

Until then, I’m staying away from EFT.

Tarkov’s Cheating Problem

Escape From Tarkov’s popularity surge has brought with it a cheating community that’s wreaking havoc on the game and making people want to quit. This isn’t an uncommon issue for new multiplayer shooters, but it’s particularly disturbing considering how popular the game is. The developer, Battlestate Games, has a lot of work to do to keep its integrity intact.

Fortunately, the studio is starting to take action. In a Reddit post, Battlestate revealed that with the help of the anti-cheat tool BattlEye, more than a thousand players have been banned from the game recently. That’s a significant amount of people and will hopefully send a message that cheating is not tolerated in the game.

Cheating is a big problem in any competitive shooter and Tarkov is no exception, but the way that cheaters are using their tools is especially troubling. In a YouTube video called “The Wiggle That Killed Tarkov,” one player who goes by the username g0at showed how easy it is to use a hack to spot other players. The gist of the video is that a player can ping an enemy’s in-game location by pressing Q and E at the same time, which wiggles the character’s body to reveal their position. g0at demonstrated this by peeping at players from behind walls or other objects, and in many cases, they wiggled back, which is an indication that they are using the same cheat as him.

The video quickly blew up on social media, and the r/EscapeFromTarkov subreddit has a pinned thread dedicated to the topic. Many commenters are outraged that the game is so riddled with cheating, and it’s understandable because it can be very frustrating when you’re a dedicated player and see another person ruin your gameplay experience. It’s also a reminder of how important it is for developers to keep their integrity in any game and make sure that they’re doing all they can to fight cheaters.

Tarkov’s Anti-Cheat System

Cheaters are a plague in every game, but the issue is especially pronounced in Escape From Tarkov. The hardcore extraction shooter has no death cams, so players have to trust that their kills weren’t the result of cheating or a glitch. The lack of verification can produce a culture of frustration and distrust, leading some players to seek out tools like hacks and exploits to get ahead.

Despite the best efforts of the game’s developers, cheaters persist in Escape From Tarkov. But the developer may have found a new way to combat the problem. In a post on social media, Escape From Tarkov developer Battlestate Games revealed that they had banned over 6,700 cheaters using the game’s anti-cheat system, BattlEye. The post also includes a public list of banned players, making the process more transparent and shaming cheaters in the face of their peers.

Many of the players who were banned were caught through a community effort helmed by popular Tarkov streamer Trey24k. This system requires users to submit a clip of an in-game encounter where they suspect a player is cheating. This is then reviewed by a team of other vetted EFT players who sift through the reports and weed out what is and isn’t cheating. Then, if there is a match that warrants a ban, the report is sent to the developer for review.

While the community-driven system is a great step in the right direction, it’s not perfect. Some players are skeptical that the list of names will actually help catch cheaters, and others are frustrated with the fact that the anti-cheat isn’t fixing other problems with the game. For example, Summit1g points out that the peeker advantage is still a major issue, and that other games like CS: GO mitigate this by using server-side interpolation.

Despite these concerns, the majority of players seem to support the move. In fact, one Reddit user pointed out that if Escape From Tarkov’s moderators used a similar list for moderator bans, it could have prevented some of the controversies that surrounded the Rangawr incident.