Players from Brazil, Pakistan cheat more in online games, new study reveals

Brazilian eSports competitors are most likely to cheat using cheat codes, bots, and hacks to gain an unfair advantage over opponents while playing online, a new study has revealed.

The Cheating Countries study uses search volume data to analyze the incidence of cheat codes, bots, and hacks used in popular video game titles. It compares it to the number of downloads in each country, to reveal which locations have the highest density of cheaters.

The research also found that gamers are most likely to cheat while playing Minecraft, followed by League of Legends, Fortnite, Roblox, and Apex Legends.

Indonesian, US, and French gamers favor using cheat codes when playing online, with US gamers most likely to use bots and hacks against others.

An analysis of which cheats are most popular in each country revealed that Swedish and Norwegian gamers favor bots to gain bonuses. At the same time, players in Spain and Russia are most likely to use cheat codes to alter game terrain.

Gamers in the US, Germany and the UK are most likely to use bots, while those in Mexico, Ireland and Bulgaria are least likely to do so.

Top ten countries with the highest density of cheaters

Brazil
Georgia
Iraq
Pakistan
Portugal
Greece
Bulgaria
Algeria
Romania
Azerbaijan

The study also found that Iceland, Panama, and Costa Rica claim the lowest density of cheaters, making eSports competitors from these locations likely to be honest about their abilities when playing against others online.

The likelihood of gamers cheating has risen exponentially during the lockdown, with search engine queries for video game bots rising by 104% between February and June. Searches for hacks and cheat codes have also increased by 40% and 22.3%, respectively.

To find out which countries gain an unfair advantage through hacks and bots when playing online, visit the Cheating Countries study at: https://www.rubyfortune.com/projects/cheating-countries/.

Published 27 Aug 2020, 20:12 IST