Cheat codes have been a part of the gaming world for decades and have always been a source of controversy. They are often used to gain an advantage over other players and make the game easier, but in the world of competitive F1 ’22 league racing, the use of them has caused a major problem.
F1 2022 leagues have become incredibly popular, with drivers from all over the world competing against each other for top honours and prizes. However, the use of cheat codes has become a growing problem, as some drivers have also been caught racing under false aliases, along with streaming their driver point of view. This has caused frustration and anger among other players, as well as the organizers of the leagues, who have invested so much time and effort into the competitions.
Codemasters and EA, as of yet, have not taken signficant action against the use of cheat codes in F1 ’22, which has only added to the frustration of the racing community. In some cases, drivers have been banned from leagues for using cheat codes, but this has not stopped others from following in their footsteps.
Their use is not only unfair to other players, but it also undermines the integrity of the competition. The organizers of the leagues have worked hard to create a level playing field for all drivers, and the use of cheat codes completely undermines their efforts.
We contacted Premier Sim Gaming Leagues (PSGL) owner and CEO, Connor McDonagh, who provided SimRacing Unlimited with the following statement about the current situation, and what impact it has had:
“It’s fair to say the community is reaching crisis point. Drivers are already disillusioned with the game for a variety of reasons, but this has just made things 10x worse. We’ve recently been forced to ban two drivers due to cheating and I am adamant there are other drivers currently doing the same but it’s impossible for us to detect as there’s no anti-cheat in the game and spotting it can be incredibly difficult.
“In terms of the direct impact, it just means there’s an annoying paranoia. If a driver suddenly improves in terms of pace, there’s immediately suspicions or questions about how they’ve done it. Most of the time it’s probably unfounded, other times they could actually be cheating. It’s a sad state of affairs given that the PC side of F1 22 contains the best drivers in the pro scene.
“For PSGL, it doesn’t make things easy having to investigate, question or query drivers, or potentially have these awkward conversations. Ultimately as a league, we’re doing our job, putting on fantastic leagues for drivers of all ages and skill levels to enjoy. We’re doing our job, it’s just disappointing there’s been no official response from Codemasters or EA about a potential anti-cheat or measures to combat this. This hasn’t just affected league racing level with a number of pro drivers very unhappy with there being nothing sufficent in place to combat this even at F1 Esports level.”
Many drivers and fans of the game have clearly voiced that this issue of cheat codes has tarnished the league racing scene and something needs to be done to stop it from continuing. This is even shown via posts on the official Twitter account for the game, where comments are reaching north of at least 200 comments per post.
Even PSGL commentator George Morgan posted this video on Twitter just hours after having attended the first public opening of the Williams Esports lounge just last week, voicing his thoughts on the matter:
Leagues of Europe F1 also stated that theybe remaining as a console-only league, as only PC-based leagues are being affected by this:
In other words, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. It is unfair to other players, undermines the integrity of the competition, plus the publishers need to take action to prevent this from continuing. It is clear to see that the racing community is standing together to ensure that the spirit of fair play is upheld.
But with no real action being taken at this time, it looks like the voices of the greater community are unfortunately falling on deaf ears, but we hope something gets sorted out sooner rather than later.