A Systematic Review of Technical Defenses Against Software-Based Cheating in Online Multiplayer Games
Adwa Alangari, Ohoud Alharbi
TL;DR
The paper addresses software-based cheating in online multiplayer games and the untrusted client execution environment. It conducts a systematic literature review, categorizing defenses into server-side detection, client-side anti-tamper, kernel-level anti-cheat drivers, and hardware-assisted TEEs, and evaluating them on detection effectiveness, overhead, privacy impact, and scalability. Key contributions include a unified definition of anti-cheats, empirical evaluation frameworks, and a synthesis of trade-offs, along with implications for practice and theory such as the Adversarial Trust Model and Minimal Trust Computing. The findings advocate a defense-in-depth strategy that balances non-invasive server-side detection with high-assurance kernel/TEE protections, while highlighting privacy, latency, and deployment constraints. The work provides a foundational resource for researchers and practitioners navigating the evolving arms race between cheaters and defenders and points to future directions like federated learning and cloud gaming as potential paradigm shifts.
Abstract
This systematic literature review surveys technical defenses against software-based cheating in online multiplayer games. Categorizing existing approach-es into server-side detection, client-side anti-tamper, kernel-level anti-cheat drivers, and hardware-assisted TEEs. Each category is evaluated in terms of detection effectiveness, perfor-mance overhead, privacy im-pact, and scalability. The analy-sis highlights key trade-offs, particularly between the high visibility of kernel-level solutions and their privacy and stability risks, versus the low intrusive-ness but limited insight of server-side methods. Overall, the re-view emphasizes the ongoing arms race with cheaters and the need for robust, adversary-resistant anti-cheat designs.