Cheaters have been one of the biggest plagues of multiplayer gaming for years, but in extraction shooters like Arc Raiders, the problem becomes even worse. When you lose a match in Call of Duty, you’ve lost a game. When you lose loot in an extraction game due to wallhackers or aimboters, you’ve lost hours of grinding, equipment, and the will for a new run.
Embark Studios is well aware of this.
The developers of Arc Raiders have now officially confirmed that their anti-cheat system uses machine learning and AI behavior analysis to more easily identify suspicious activities, unusual inputs, and gameplay patterns that indicate cheating.
In other words — the game doesn’t just check “does someone have a cheat program,” but tries to analyze the way a person plays. Embark has published a more detailed explanation of the entire system, including a new kernel-level anti-cheat, but the most interesting part relates to the telemetry data and AI models that analyze player behavior during matches. Special focus is placed on the abuse of accessibility devices, which some cheaters use to bypass standard detections.
And here the studio enters very slippery territory.
Because accessibility devices exist to allow people with certain difficulties to play normally, not to be viewed by the multiplayer community as potential cheaters. Embark claims that is precisely why they are training models that try to distinguish legitimate use of these devices from manipulation and exploitation of the system. According to the studio, this process is still not perfect and is constantly being updated, but the goal is clear — to protect fair play without punishing players who genuinely need accessibility options.
Of course, whenever AI and automated systems issue bans, the question immediately arises: “What if the system makes a mistake?” Embark claims that every appeal is reviewed manually and that a real person is involved in the review process, even if the responses players receive seem generic or automated. The studio also states that it uses data from appeals for further training and improving the anti-cheat model.
Interestingly, Arc Raiders already has a history of controversy surrounding AI technology. The studio was previously criticized for using generative AI tools, after which Embark began to reduce their use and focus on manually created content. However, when it comes to combating cheaters, the use of artificial intelligence here seems like a much more logical and acceptable application of technology.
Because realistically — modern cheats have long become too sophisticated for old anti-cheat methods. And if an extraction shooter wants to survive in the long term, player trust must be a priority. No one wants to lose equipment and hours of gameplay because someone decided to turn on a wallhack and pretend to be an esports legend.
Embark clearly wants to show that Arc Raiders will not be another multiplayer game that lets cheaters run rampant for months. The only question that remains is how accurate their AI system will really be when the game finally faces the full pressure of millions of players.
