How much does Easy Anti-Cheat cost?
The good news for game developers – Easy Anti-Cheat is now completely free to integrate as part of Epic Online Services! This makes it a no-brainer for protecting multiplayer games from the scourge of cheaters.
As an avid gamer myself, I understand just how frustrating it can be to have your game ruined by players using aimbots, wall hacks, speed hacks and other cheats. Good anti-cheat is essential, and Easy Anti-Cheat is one of the best solutions out there.
What is Easy Anti-Cheat and how does it work?
Founded in 2006 by Kamu, Easy Anti-Cheat is one of the longest running anti-cheat services. It uses cutting edge technology to detect cheat software and prevent it from ruining multiplayer gaming experiences.
Specifically, Easy Anti-Cheat utilizes kernel-level drivers to closely monitor gaming processes. Unlike superficial monitoring, this allows Easy Anti-Cheat to check for cheat software trying to manipulate the game code itself. The drivers also make it harder for cheat developers to hide their software.
When cheating is detected, offending players can be quickly banned by Easy Anti-Cheat‘s servers. This auto-ban feedback system severely punishes cheaters and serves as a deterrent to others. Legitimate players also find comfort in knowing justice is swiftly served.
So in summary – Easy Anti-Cheat uses in-depth system monitoring and an auto-ban feature to catch and block cheating programs and behaviors. The goal is ensuring fair, even playfields for massively popular competitive games.
Easy Anti-Cheat Usage and Market Share
While specifics are not publicly shared, Easy Anti-Cheat has confirmed protecting over 150 major game titles. Some of the most notable games using Easy Anti-Cheat include:
- Fortnite
- Apex Legends
- Rust
- Rainbow Six Siege
- PlayerUnknown‘s Battlegrounds
Based on these AAA blockbusters, Easy Anti-Cheat likely commands dominant market share among anti-cheat solutions. For example, Fortnite alone boasted a staggering 350 million registered players as of May 2021 according to Epic Games.
With free integration into Epic‘s eco-system, expect usage of Easy Anti-Cheat to only grow from here.
What Does Easy Anti-Cheat Protection Cost?
So I‘ve touched on how Easy Anti-Cheat works and some of the games it protects. Now for the big question many developers have – how much does Easy Anti-Cheat cost in 2024? After all anti-cheat is crucial these days, with over 25% of polled PC gamers admitting to cheating in multiplayer games.
Well here‘s the good news…
Drum roll please!…
As part of Epic Online Services, Easy Anti-Cheat is now completely free for game developers to integrate into their titles. Epic Games acquired Easy Anti-Cheat maker Kamu in October 2018, and opened up the platform for all in 2020.
This is great because advanced anti-cheat was often a huge financial barrier, especially to small indie studios. With a free tier available, Easy Anti-Cheat levels the online security playing field. In an increasingly connected gaming world with titles like Destiny 2 going free-to-play, strong anti-cheat protection is now truly accessible to developers of all sizes.
How Does Easy Anti-Cheat Compare to Other Solutions?
Of course Easy Anti-Cheat isn‘t the only anti-cheating option available now or historically. Let‘s see how some alternatives stack up.
| Easy Anti-Cheat | BattlEye | Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) | |
| Type | Kernel-level | Kernel-level | User-level |
| Games | Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rust | PUBG, Arma 3, DayZ | CS:GO, DOTA 2 |
| Cost | Free (as part of EOS) | Paid | Free |
As we can see, the two paid kernel access solutions, Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye, are utilized by some of the world‘s hottest competitive titles. This points to advanced cheating detection necessitating deep system access. Meanwhile VAC‘s user-mode approach seems to be going out of favor for state-of-the-art protection.
Most crucially however, Easy Anti-Cheat offers comparable detection to BattlEye but now in a completely free package. This tremendous value makes it hard to pass up for any studio tackling cheating vulnerability in their multiplayer experiences.
What Does The Future Hold for Anti-Cheat Technology?
While amazing progress has been made, anti-cheat continues to play cat and mouse with increasingly sophisticated cheating software. I believe the next evolutionary leap will come through machine learning algorithms detecting suspicious patterns of play or software behavior. Such predictive tech could significantly strengthen reactive signature analysis against evolving cheat programs.
Potential downsides like performance overhead and false positives will need addressing. However with AI permeating every industry, anti-cheat will likely also get its machine learning upgrade sooner rather than later. If tools like Easy Anti-Cheat embrace ML as part of their free offering, it could provide a definitive edge over paid solutions relying solely on rules-based approaches.
