Open letter to BHVR regarding the hacker epidemic

UgyBoogie

This is a loaded topic and I must admit that I have to try really hard to compose myself. First and foremost, I am aware that I'm in no position to demand anything, but I really want an official statement. That being said, things have gotten so far, that this problem is taking an emotional toll on me.

I am a die-hard fan of Dead by Daylight. Always have been. I've been playing since Day 1 in June 2016 and still surviving and killing today. I've clocked in over 3500 hours of playtime, so this easily is the most played game of my entire life. I've been nothing but positive and supportive throughout my time playing, or at least I always tried to be. And, a little thing I'm proud of personally, to this day I've never even once disconnected from a match. Why am I saying all of this? Because I firmly believe and hope that my voice matters.

We had several waves of hacks spreading through the community over the years. But anyone who plays a lot right now can attest that it has never been as worse as it is right now. On one hand, we have the very obvious hackers, flying and teleporting across the map. On the other hand, we have a lot of subtle hackers, increasing their speed by only a slither, so casual players won't notice or veterans have to question themselves if the opposing side was using cheats.

You can't blame a company for that. It is bound to happen with any competitive game that is getting popular. And if we take a look at the past, Behaviour has always managed to eradicate past hacker waves. What you can blame a company for, however, is miscommunication. This current problem with hackers has been dragging on for months. And so far, I haven't seen any kind of official statement. Heard no plan or agenda from Behaviour in their attempt to fix this problem.

Lastly, I want to address the thing that pains me the most. Pains me on a personal level. The lack of community involvement. As dumb as it sounds; Reporting a hacker isn't an easy task. Ingame reports lead to no fruition, as BHVR stated, they will never issue out a ban without solid proof. Therefore, we have to write a lengthy support ticket, fill in a bunch of annoying-to-acquire information (Profiles, Steam64 IDs, ...) and, virtually record each and every match, just in case someone cheats. Honestly, I can't even be mad that most people don't go through this process, it does take quite some time and effort to complete a report. Especially with the more convenient alternative of simply saying "Oh well, I'll just queue into the next game...".

That being said, even if we manage to get out a sound report, all the correct information provided, and with solid video evidence, most of the time, nothing happens. Nothing at all. This isn't a recent problem and "We're currently receiving a lot of reports" is just an empty excuse as well. It has always been a problem, over all those years. I've written countless reports via support tickets over the years. Always attached a non-listed YouTube video as evidence. Most of those videos don't have a single view to this day. No one on their support team bothered checking. And those hackers continued on un-punished. Even if they take action (and again, this happens rarely!) it takes multiple weeks for a ban to be issued out on a hacker. Weeks. And they make a new account for a few bucks within minutes.

I've been trying to fight the good fight against the hackers and for a more positive and healthy community for years. But I'm fatigued. I feel like my actions are meaningless and my voice is unheard. I love Dead by Daylight with all my heart. I really do. But this might be the breaking point.