Userviz video game cheating system is shut down after legal threat

Userviz, an 'undetectable' AI system that could be used to aim automatically at an enemy while gaming, was shut down after a legal threat.

Userviz used machine learning to feed gameplay video from a console via network streaming or capture card, and fed it into a nearby computer, which displayed information the cheater could use. It was supposedly able to cheat any game on any platform or device and be undetectable.

The system started getting attention after a well-known cheat hunter group tweeted about it, prompting game publisher Activision to issue a legal threat. Activision's Call of Duty: Warzone game was being used to market the system.

UserViz was later shut down, with it’s developer, 'User101', deleting all content on the system's site and replacing it with a statement claiming the software had never been published and that its development would not be continued.

The incident raised questions about the ethics of using systems - covert and otherwise - that cheat online games. 

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7e5bv/undetectable-console-cheat-shuts-down-after-activision-request

• https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/07/cheat-maker-brags-of-computer-vision-auto-aim-that-works-on-any-game/

• https://kotaku.com/cheat-maker-new-aimbot-undetectable-on-consoles-pc-1847245460

• https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/activision-shuts-down-ai-assisted-call-of-duty-warzone-cheat

• https://www.vg247.com/2021/07/14/undetectable-call-of-duty-warzone-cheat-activision-takedown/

• https://www.everyeye.it/notizie/cod-warzone-lotta-cheat-bloccato-software-basato-machine-learning-529401.html

• https://www.pcguru.hu/hirek/az-activision-lecsapott-a-legujabb-csalas-fejlesztojere/64242