Woburn, MA – September 9, 2019 – Kaspersky today announces the first step in protecting fair play in eSports with the introduction of a beta version of its new solution, Kaspersky Anti-Cheat, to help tournament organizers combat in-game cheating. This new cloud-based offering seamlessly integrates through the API of eSports platforms and provides real-time cheat detection in addition to automated reports for players who have the ability to make disciplinary decisions on the rule-breaker.

According to the latest Irdeto Global Gaming Survey, roughly one in three gamers have confessed to cheating and only 12% have never had their multiplayer gaming experience spoiled by unfair actions of other players. Given the negative effect cheating has on the popularity and reputation of gaming tournaments, professional gaming organizations could face challenges, like reduced revenue or number of perspective partnerships, should cheaters continue to be successful in their lack of fair play.

To use Kaspersky Anti-Cheat, players must install the solution distributed by the platform. After installation on the player’s computer is complete, game process information is collected, sent to the Kaspersky Anti-Cheat cloud and analyzed for suspicious events. Simultaneously, the tournament referee will receive real-time cheat reports via a web interface providing technical evidence of cheating without taking any immediate actions upon the player, but leaving the final decision to the referee and tournament organizers. In addition to ensuring cheat detection, Kaspersky Anti-Cheat always puts the user experience first and does not affect the game process or overload traffic.

“Fair play is highly important to gamers who strive to show their class and skill. When games like CS:GO, PUBG or DOTA 2 become overloaded with cheaters, honest gamers will either stop playing or even give up the game for good,” said Anton Selikhov, product owner, Kaspersky Anti-Cheat. “Our solution provides tournament organizers with an opportunity to maintain a stable balance in the gaming community and monitor the progress of their competitions. With the introduction of Kaspersky Anti-Cheat, our company brings over 20 years of relevant experience in fighting malware and cybercrime to a new territory.”

Kaspersky first presented the Kaspersky Anti-Cheat solution at The StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 event and also announced its first commercial deal with StarLadder. As part of this deal, Kaspersky provides StarLadder with its anti-cheat services to supply the platform with an opportunity to organize fair and monitored tournaments where gamers and audiences can be assured of fair play.

“Many players may cheat to earn real money from prize places or to qualify for tournaments. This growing tendency can undermine confidence in the eSports industry and decrease the popularity of online tournaments,” said Alexander Chegrinez, chief business development officer at StarLadder. “Kaspersky’s Anti-Cheat solution allows us to use the company’s great experience with accumulated technologies and knowledge in the gaming field. We will test this new solution at our tournaments to check how often players resort to dishonest behavior. We are confident that this new solution will bring more players to the StarLadder platform and facilitate a healthier gaming community.”

Kaspersky’s Anti-Cheat solution is available globally and is designed for both game developers and eSport tournament organizers. For more information about a possible partnership and current service prices, please visit our global website https://go.kaspersky.com/anticheat.html.