Embark Studios, the developer behind Arc Raiders, has detailed its anti-cheat approach after staying deliberately vague to avoid helping cheat makers. The company says it already uses kernel-level protection from Denuvo and detections from Anybrain's AI service, and it is also training in-house models built around machine learning and other data. These systems work together to identify suspicious behavior and build confidence before any action is taken, allowing detection to improve as new cheats emerge.
Enforcement is also getting harsher. First-time offenders now receive permanent bans with no warnings or second chances, and game copies are linked to accounts accused of cheating so a banned license cannot be used to create a new account. Other accounts linked to a banned copy receive the same permaban. Embark is additionally working on a hardware ban to cut repeat offenders, with implementation hoped for later this year. The risk is that players who buy used hardware previously flagged could be caught up in the bans, which would be especially damaging in a game that enforces permanent bans.
The crackdown follows frustration from Arc Raiders' growing community, including complaints about streamers openly boasting about cheats. Embark says it is being careful not to incorrectly ban legitimate players. Executive producer Aleks acknowledged that cheating "will never fully go away," but the studio is trying to make it difficult enough to act as a deterrent in what remains a cat-and-mouse arms race.