Deadlock's new anti-cheat detects hackers and lets other players choose the punishment, including turning them into frogs

A new patch for Deadlock delivers an incredible counter to hackers. Instead of simply kicking them from the lobby, the hackers can be turned into harmless frogs for other players to hunt.

Deadlock New patch turns hackers into frogs
Valve fighting back against hackers. | © X / EG

Valve finally patched an anti-cheat system into their new game, Deadlock. And it's incredible.

Not every frog is a prince

One of Deadlock's biggest problems on launch was its lack of a good anti-cheat system. They've finally got one, and it's fantastic.

Now, if you cheat in Deadlock and you are detected, other players will be notified, and they will be allowed to decide the punishment.

Teams can either ban a detected cheater immediately and end the game, or, if they want to have a bit of fun, turn them into a frog for the rest of the match. The frog can't do any damage and can only jump around, like frogs do.

Although the hacker-turned-frog can't do any damage, other players are able to hunt them down and kill them. But don't worry, if you have a hacker-turned-frog on your team, you are able to leave without penalty.

Even though hackers will obviously try to keep doing what they do, it's nice to see Valve fighting back in a more amusing way than with a simple ban. And it's very cathartic for the team who had to play against the hacker.

So what next, how about turning CS hackers into chickens?

Moritz Look
Moritz Look