There’s on old saying that claims “cheaters never prosper” and this is just another example of it being true. PerfectAim is a cheat service that works for a variety of PC games, allowing players to use “undetectable” cheats to get a leg up on the competition. One of those games, up until yesterday, was Destiny 2.
Bungie, the developer behind the game, sent a cease and desist letter to PerfectAim, accusing them of violating the game’s licensing agreement. The service promptly ceased and desisted, leaving would-be cheaters with a “no longer available” message.
“A claim has been made by Bungie, Inc. suggesting that this product violates the game’s license agreement…Furthermore, a demand was made that we cease and desist from selling this product. We won’t comment on whether these claims are justified or not, but have decided to comply with this demand regardless. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to our customers.”
It’s easy to view their immediate compliance as an admission of guilt, but for the sake of giving the benefit of the doubt, it’s possible that they simply didn’t want to get dragged to court and drown in legal fees.
Then again, it’s also possible – and very likely – that they were indeed violating the license agreement.
Speaking in a very general sense, when a small company gets a cease and desist from a much larger company, it’s hard not to root for the underdog. That’s because in a lot of cases its over something innocuous, like fan-made material that isn’t turning a profit.
In this case, however, PerfectAim is a deplorable service that charges players a monthly fee for the capabilities to utterly destroy any semblance of balance a game might have. A balance, that should be noted, is the result of very hard work on the developer’s part. They’re ruining the experience, period.
They make no attempt to hide or justify what they do, outright boasting about their “undetectable and affordable” cheats. They’re a scourge on the gaming community. While that may be a bit dramatic, it allowed me to use the word “scourge,” and that felt cool to type.
With PerfectAim responding so quickly to the cease and desist, it will be interesting to see if any other developers follow suit. The industry as a whole would be better without services like this, so few people are going to shed a tear if they become a thing of the past.