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‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ hacking tool developers arrested in China

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The PC version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has suffered from a problem with hackers ruining the integrity of the game for several months, and it appears concrete steps are being taken to remove them from the game. Fifteen developers of hack programs designed for use with the game have been arrested in China, and they were handed a massive fine.

“Earlier this month, on April 25, 15 suspects were arrested for developing and selling hacking [and] cheating programs that affect PUBG,” developer PUBG Corporation said in a post on the game’s Steam page. “It was confirmed that malicious code, including Trojan horse software, was included in some of these programs and was used to steal user information.”

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The suspects allegedly hosted “marketplaces for hack programs” and helped broker transactions, according to a translated statement from local Chinese authorities.

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Other suspects are apparently still under investigation in this particular case, but those already arrested were fined the equivalent of more than $5 million for their role.

“The longstanding rumor that hacking [or] cheating programs extract information from users’ PCs have been confirmed to be true,” the post continued. “Using illegal programs not only disrupts others, but can end up with you handing over your personal information.”

PUBG Corporation has struggled to keep up with hackers’ efforts to break the game, and a patch released for the PC version in March actually did a pretty good job of breaking the game in its own right — it left many players unable to even launch the game, and the patch was eventually removed after players complained.

Not all is bad in the world of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, however. The game’s latest “Savage” map is currently being tested, and an underground cave area will give players more options to hide and set up ambushes. A second map, the enormous desert Miramar, is already available to all on PC, and it will soon make its way to the Xbox One version, as well. For those who just want to play a particular stage, a map selection option was also added to the PC version recently.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is available now on PC and Xbox One. A separate mobile version titled PUBG Mobile is also available for free on iOS and Android devices.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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