5 ms·

No, they are not doing this to stop cheaters. It might be a nice side effect. They are doing it because money.

0x500x79 3y ago
Possibly, I think the math on number of people that currently purchase controllers that will be blocked in the future is a very small amount of money compared to the possibility of losing that revenue to other gaming sources if that is the reason. "Preserving console experience" really feels like corporatespeak to say "cheaters" without saying the devices in question (because then it raises visibility to those devices). I think the "doing this for money" is the people who are currently not gaming due to rampant cheating in games like R6S, Apex, COD, etc.
- soraminazuki 3y ago
  That's a convenient metric. Or rather, the lack of it. My common sense tells me there are significantly more people using third party controllers than there are cheaters, though.
  - 0x500x79 3y ago
    I think the metric is blocked controllers, which is a small subset of 3rd party controllers. So far the most common people complaining about this change is cronus and xim users not legit players. Most 3rd party controllers that are being sold online are still compatible afaict.
    - ThatPlayer 3y ago
      I don't think it has affected xim or cronus at all. They use official first party Xbox controllers to handle authentication, and MITM them to inject inputs. Instead the big one affected has been Brooks, who make very popular boards for custom fighting game controllers. https://www.brookaccessory.com/support/xbox-Issue-update.php https://www.brookaccessory.com/support/xbox-Issue-update.php https://twitter.com/maximilian_/status/1718811336493482448 https://twitter.com/maximilian_/status/1718811336493482448
AustinDev 3y ago
They are most definitely doing this to combat cheaters. I tried out Cronus + KBM on my friend's Xbox S and it was comical. I had aim assist, no recoil and a keyboard and mouse. I was running 100:3 K:D on COD:MW2. If you don't think cheating is a big part of the reason you've never played console games competitively.
- rvnx 3y ago
  I wonder what popular Twitch streamers are going to do once their Cronus Zen is detected.
  - monocasa 3y ago
    But a new one that'll be built around an official controller, or respond correctly to whatever crypto they're using?
- ThatPlayer 3y ago
  If they were trying to combat cheaters, they wouldn't have released an official controller that allows generic, 3rd party, unauthenticated inputs: the Xbox Adaptive Controller. It would be pretty trivial to hook up a Pi Pico through the jacks and USB ports to be able to make a KBM adapter like that. There just hasn't been a point making such a device when the xim/cronus works fine. It might not even need the jacks, according to https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/account-profile/accessibility/devices-that-work-with-adaptive-controller https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/account-profile/accessib... the USB-A ports accept HID gamepads.
  - Cthulhu_ 3y ago
    "Pretty trivial" but only for the small percentage of people that are tech minded like that and who can be bothered; it's not an issue, not compared to laypeople being able to buy an off the shelf ready to use product.
    - ThatPlayer 3y ago
wernercd 3y ago
Why wouldn't you think it's both? they obviously care about money and selling periphials is money... but so is selling consoles. If they can't control the cheaters in some fashion (losing battle and all that) then they will sell less consoles because why would people pay for that? (unless you're a cheater paying for it but that's besides the point). The problem you have is that you think there's only one answer to this and the answers is the want to stop the cheaters AND they want money because cheaters affect both.
keraf 3y ago
If the goal was really to stop cheater, they'd provide an API in their XDA to let game developers reject unauthorized controllers. That way, ranked matches could take advantage of this to make competitive games more fair. If people want to have more fun with cheats in a single player game using an unapproved third-party controller, they should be able to do so!

Possibly, I think the math on number of people that currently purchase controllers that will be blocked in the future is a very small amount of money compared to the possibility of losing that revenue to other gaming sources if that is the reason. "Preserving console experience" really feels like corporatespeak to say "cheaters" without saying the devices in question (because then it raises visibility to those devices). I think the "doing this for money" is the people who are currently not gaming due to rampant cheating in games like R6S, Apex, COD, etc.

soraminazuki 3y ago
That's a convenient metric. Or rather, the lack of it. My common sense tells me there are significantly more people using third party controllers than there are cheaters, though.
- 0x500x79 3y ago
  I think the metric is blocked controllers, which is a small subset of 3rd party controllers. So far the most common people complaining about this change is cronus and xim users not legit players. Most 3rd party controllers that are being sold online are still compatible afaict.
  - ThatPlayer 3y ago
    I don't think it has affected xim or cronus at all. They use official first party Xbox controllers to handle authentication, and MITM them to inject inputs. Instead the big one affected has been Brooks, who make very popular boards for custom fighting game controllers. https://www.brookaccessory.com/support/xbox-Issue-update.php https://www.brookaccessory.com/support/xbox-Issue-update.php https://twitter.com/maximilian_/status/1718811336493482448 https://twitter.com/maximilian_/status/1718811336493482448

AustinDev 3y ago

They are most definitely doing this to combat cheaters. I tried out Cronus + KBM on my friend's Xbox S and it was comical. I had aim assist, no recoil and a keyboard and mouse. I was running 100:3 K:D on COD:MW2. If you don't think cheating is a big part of the reason you've never played console games competitively.

rvnx 3y ago
I wonder what popular Twitch streamers are going to do once their Cronus Zen is detected.
- monocasa 3y ago
  But a new one that'll be built around an official controller, or respond correctly to whatever crypto they're using?
ThatPlayer 3y ago
If they were trying to combat cheaters, they wouldn't have released an official controller that allows generic, 3rd party, unauthenticated inputs: the Xbox Adaptive Controller. It would be pretty trivial to hook up a Pi Pico through the jacks and USB ports to be able to make a KBM adapter like that. There just hasn't been a point making such a device when the xim/cronus works fine. It might not even need the jacks, according to https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/account-profile/accessibility/devices-that-work-with-adaptive-controller https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/account-profile/accessib... the USB-A ports accept HID gamepads.
- Cthulhu_ 3y ago
  "Pretty trivial" but only for the small percentage of people that are tech minded like that and who can be bothered; it's not an issue, not compared to laypeople being able to buy an off the shelf ready to use product.
  - ThatPlayer 3y ago

wernercd 3y ago

Why wouldn't you think it's both? they obviously care about money and selling periphials is money... but so is selling consoles. If they can't control the cheaters in some fashion (losing battle and all that) then they will sell less consoles because why would people pay for that? (unless you're a cheater paying for it but that's besides the point). The problem you have is that you think there's only one answer to this and the answers is the want to stop the cheaters AND they want money because cheaters affect both.

keraf 3y ago

If the goal was really to stop cheater, they'd provide an API in their XDA to let game developers reject unauthorized controllers. That way, ranked matches could take advantage of this to make competitive games more fair. If people want to have more fun with cheats in a single player game using an unapproved third-party controller, they should be able to do so!