Gamers spend up to $500 million annually on "cyberdoping"

The development of esports around the world is accompanied by an increase in demand for ways to gain an unfair advantage in the virtual arena.

Panopticon Laboratories estimates that players around the world spend between $350 million and $500 million annually to purchase cheating software in games. The distribution of such software does not violate laws, although its use is prohibited by the regulations of any esports competitions.

Game fraud is also used by software developers to counter cheaters. So a subscription to the German BattlEye Innovations software package costs $10,000 to $100,000 per year, depending on the number of players on the server.

Major league esports players almost never risk their reputation and do not resort to fraud programs. Similar methods are common in amateur competitions.

According to a Nielsen study earlier this year, 16% of 900 respondents admitted to cheating during the game. 30% said they stopped playing because of cheaters, and another 38% added that the situation has worsened in the last year.

Source: Vedomosti