It’s almost as if Blizzard Entertainment, the video game company responsible for some of the largest titles in gaming history, has an enormous target on its back.
For years World of Warcraft, the world’s most subscribed to MMORPG and one of Blizzard’s most successful games, has been a victim of malicious hackers, miners, “bot”ers and many more general cheaters bent on violating the terms of service in every which way he/she is able.
(This is personally painful for me, my WoW account was once hacked around 14 times in the course of a single month).
What The MapHack Actually Entails
This time StarCraft 2 is the computerized casualty in the ongoing war against big, bad internet bullies and scammers. The hack, developed by ValiantChaos and thus named ValiantChaos MapHack, includes features such as:
- A camera lock to look around the map without being detected.
- Displayed player selections and clicks for everyone in game.
- Alerts to warn players before he/she is attacked.
- Auto-creating and starting units.
- The ability to give yourself achievements
- Instant win against A.I., and unfortunately so much more.
For honest and hard-working StarCraft 2 players, this is simply outrageous. To spend so much time, money, and energy to become superior at the game, and climb ranked ladders, just to have others cheat their way to the top is disheartening to say the least.
How Blizzard is Taking Action
The MapHack is being sold for around $60, which is even more than the game itself. Culprits have been identified selling the hack on multiple websites, hacking forums, and even on the StarCraft forum located on Blizzard’s own website.
The company has made a court filling stating that “hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software” are prohibited by StarCraft 2‘s terms of service and above all else, it would like “to protect the sanctity of the StarCraft 2 gaming experience.”
“The competitive aspect of StarCraft II’s multiplayer environment is one of the driving forces behind sales of the game. In fact, the StarCraft game are played as a competitive sport around the world, with professional or semi-professional players competing for national and international titles. Additionally, the ability to play the game against skilled human opponents keeps the player experience fresh and interesting, thus ensuring that players return to the game frequently.”
Will Blizzard Efforts Be All For Naught?
According to an article at KaboomShark.com, Nintendo previously took legal action against Game Genie. Instead of ruling to keep the game fair for all users, the judge presiding over the case declared that “people have a right to experiment with the product,” and ruled in favor of Game Genie.
With a bleak history when it comes to game modifications and hacks being taken to court, there’s a chance that Blizzard employees will likely have to stick to banning ValiantChaos MapHack users on their own.
However, Blizzard is arguably one of the largest game developers in the world, which could give it the upper hand in an immoral situation such as this. Another important difference sits on the notion that Game Genie neglected to effect any multiplayer games.
Considering that this MapHack effects more than just the user’s game, it disrupts the opponent and any other players involved as well, the court may lean more heavily towards Blizzard’s claim.
