What is BattlEye Anti-Cheat in XDefiant?

XDefiant appears to have a cheater problem, so how does BattlEye actually work?

XDefiant

XDefiant has been out for some time now, but the cheaters seem to be going up. Many players have reported issues with players cheating in their matches.

One player took to Reddit and said: “sadly enough i've been going against a lot more cheaters than before. Seems like most of you guys have too unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, I knew people using cheats would happen, its more or less inevitable, but it's felt like going against a flying spinning player almost every game now. Even if it is a bit dramatic but I'd like to say I still have hope for the game just don't know whatll come of it if this keeps up.”

Because this issue is seemingly becoming more common. We wanted to take a look at XDefiant’s Anti-Cheat, to see how it really works.

Does XDefiant have Anti-Cheat?

Yes. XDefiant uses Ubisoft’s BattlEye anti-cheat system which is automatically installed with any Ubisoft game.

BattlEye is an extremely popular anti-cheat software which is used by multiple different games such as Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, and Destiny 2.

XDefiant

What is BattlEye?

BattlEye describes itself as a “proactive protection system which puts a strong shield around the entire game” And follows on to say:

“Most hacking is completely blocked to begin with. This system is constantly evolving to cover new forms of attacking games. The remaining hacking is covered by an intelligent dynamic on-the-fly detection system, ensuring that unrelenting cheaters are globally banned quickly. BattlEye thereby does its entire job independently without requiring any input from the developer’s side.

To get a little more technical, here are some details on how BattlEye works on the inside:

• Fully fledged proactive protection system completely blocking the vast amount of hacking and going further than most other solutions without bothering the player
• Fast dynamic and permanent scanning of the player’s system in user- and kernel-mode using innovative, sophisticated specific and heuristic/generic detection and cheat analysis routines for maximum effectivenes
• Secure (unfakeable) global banning system that can be SteamID/account-based and hence provides the same or an even higher level of effectiveness as/than e.g. VAC bans, because (unlike with VAC) Steam-global bans are possible (performance: over 150,000 bans in 15 months in ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead)
• The BE Server is keeping full control over the game server, enforcing quick and constant responses from all BE Clients and instantly kicking violating players
• Communication happens via highly encrypted packets through the game’s own network connection, not requiring any additional port/firewall forwarding
• Secure auto-update system, working very reliably and bandwidth-friendly without disturbing the player
• Fully customized solutions as needed for every game it supports, e.g. a very effective script detection in the ArmA series”

However, cheating appears to be extremely easy in XDefiant, with one website selling Aimbot, Wallhacks and Radar hacks for just $24.99 for a week's access. Unfortunately, as with all free-to-play games, cheating is common due to the ability to just make a new account if you are banned. Fixing issues that allow cheaters in is also extremely complex, so it may take a while for XDefiant to solve this problem.