The developer of Once Human has imposed 10-year-long bans on over 400 accounts as a punishment for cheating in the game. Developed by Starry Studios, the free-to-play open-world title Once Human rolled out for PC players on July 9.

Once Human is a survival shooter set in a post-apocalyptic open world, in which players can band together as a team to collect resources and take on deadly creatures. As is the case with certain titles at launch, the game had its fair share of bugs in the original build, which the developer has been fixing since launch day. Some of those early bugs were easily exploited by players to gain an unfair advantage, spoiling the experience for others. The developer has announced a crackdown on these players, slapping them with incredibly lengthy bans.

Once Humanannounced that it conducted an account suspension spree to penalize those players who negatively impacted "the fairness of the game." It revealed banning a whopping 430 accounts for 3600 days - or almost 10 years - for illegally using third-party software in the game. In addition to that, 18 more accounts have been suspended for exploiting a bug allowing players to get access to and occupy Engagement Zones in restricted areas. However, these accounts have been penalized for a shorter span, ranging from a week to a month. Further, the items obtained by such Once Human players have also been removed from their accounts. The announcement also reassured players that the exploit has since been fixed.

The Once Human developer urged players to report incidents that "compromise" the game's fairness using the built-in reporting feature or by using its official Discord channel. It explained that these reports undergo a verification process after which penalties are imposed on guilty players. Judging by the strict bans recently revealed, it appears that Starry Studio is focused on further improving Once Human's multiplayer experience by suspending accounts engaging in violations.

While cheaters and exploits have been an issue, the game has also suffered from server problems since its launch, something that is especially detrimental for online titles. On top of that, Once Human's privacy policy also generated concerns about the handling of player data. These issues have resulted in the game getting a flurry of negative Steam reviews during its debut week, with the game having a "Mixed" overall rating on the platform at the time of writing. However, assuming Starry Studio continues to work on improving the game by fixing bugs and expelling cheaters, the title and its Steam score could improve over time.

Posted: Jul 20, 2024 11:14 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/once-human-cheaters-get-10-year-ban/