Security Report: Update 0.4 Cycle & Anti-cheat Improvements

Hey, everyone,

We’d like to address your concerns about cheating and other disruptive player behavior in Gray Zone Warfare. In this Security Report, we’ll look back at the enforcement actions taken during the Update 0.4 cycle and share the improvements coming to our anti-cheat measures with Rogue Ops and beyond.

Punishments During the Update 0.4 Cycle

Since Gray Zone Warfare launched in Early Access, we have been actively identifying and removing cheaters from the game, as well as taking action against other behavior that negatively impacts other players' experience.

Every case is investigated carefully, because any penalty we issue must be supported by sufficient evidence. Thanks to that, we can take firm action against confirmed offenders and reduce the risk of punishing innocent players.

Below, you’ll find an overview of the actions taken during the Update 0.4 cycle, including the results of a major ban wave carried out this week. Thanks to the latest improvements to our cheat detection systems, we identified and permanently banned an additional 1,239 accounts confirmed to have cheated in Gray Zone Warfare during the Update 0.4 cycle.

Protection of Fair Play

We understand how frustrating it is to encounter cheaters when you simply want to enjoy the game. We take this issue seriously, and protecting players from malicious behavior is a high priority for us.

Unfortunately, cheating is not a problem that can be solved once and forgotten. The market for video game cheats is a multi-billion-dollar industry, with cheat developers highly motivated to constantly adapt their software and find new ways to circumvent existing protections.

Therefore, no studio can promise to eliminate cheating entirely. But it is possible to make developing and using cheats increasingly difficult. And that’s where we’re concentrating our efforts.

Stronger Defenses, Faster Action & Harsher Consequences

We’ve heard your feedback, and we’ve increased the resources dedicated to anti-cheat within the studio to strengthen our efforts. Our current focus is on detecting cheats faster, improving prevention methods, and reducing the time it takes to remove confirmed cheaters from the game.

Gray Zone Warfare already uses multiple layers of protection, including our in-house tools, Easy Anti-Cheat, and Anybrain. With Rogue Ops, we’re expanding those protections with additional in-house tools.

We have also reviewed how we punish different offenses and how effective those penalties have been. Based on the results, we have decided to move toward much harsher enforcement. Permanent bans will be issued earlier in the process, particularly in cases detected by our most reliable anti-cheat tools or involving serious misconduct.

At the same time, we never want to rely purely on automated systems. Human investigation remains an important part of the process. Automated systems are valuable but not flawless, and we want to minimize the risk of false positives as much as possible.

Improving Communication With Players

We’ve always been cautious about sharing details of our anti-cheat measures, as any information we reveal could potentially help those trying to circumvent our protections. That hasn’t changed, but we do want to be as transparent as possible about the actions we’re taking, without compromising their effectiveness.

We plan to publish the Code of Conduct, which will clearly outline what behavior can result in penalties and the consequences players can expect. It will remain permanently available on our website, alongside instructions on how to properly report players and answers to frequently asked questions about this topic. We hope to launch the page very soon.

We have already shared details about enforcement against players who abused exploits in our first Security Report, and we intend to continue providing updates on significant enforcement actions.

We are also introducing in-game notifications that will let players know when action has been taken against someone they previously reported. Please note that this feature may be adjusted further based on how it performs in practice.

What’s Next

Our work on anti-cheat doesn’t stop here. We’re already developing and evaluating additional measures to introduce after Rogue Ops and beyond, and we’ll continue to refine our approach based on how these measures perform in practice.

We appreciate your patience and continued support in the fight against cheating. Please keep reporting any suspicious behavior you encounter. Your reports are incredibly valuable to us and play an important role in our efforts to keep Gray Zone Warfare fair for everyone.

Thank you for your help and support.

Every Move Matters,

MADFINGER Games Team