Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has pushed out a hotfix to remove players' ability to use a command that "was never meant to be player-facing" to alter the game's visuals and give themselves the upper hand in the hit third-person shooter.
In a post in the official Arc Raiders Discord server over the weekend, community lead Ossen confirmed that the unintended feature has been banished.
"We have just pushed a Hotfix removing the 'NewConsole' command," the post reads. "This feature was never meant to be player-facing. We're continuing to investigate related reports and may take action where appropriate to protect fair play and the integrity of the game. As always, thank you for your reports and see you Topside!"
Prior to this hotfix, players were using the NewConsole command to alter visuals and effects, essentially giving them the ability to see much more clearly than everyone else. Clips floating around social media show users playing with an increased field of view (FOV) and no visible fog (yes, even from smoke grenades, which could be rendered totally useless), all ultimately giving them an advantage over anyone playing fairly.
There have been a lot of complaints about cheating in Arc Raiders lately, and last week, Ossen confirmed in the Discord server that "we are taking this issue very seriously and are listening to, and acting on your feedback." Furthermore, she said that over the coming weeks, Embark will be "implementing significant changes to our rulesets and deploying new detection mechanisms to identify and remove cheaters."
While the NewConsole exploit seemingly didn't allow for players to use the more 'traditional' cheats, like shooting through walls, this hotfix should still help alleviate some unfairness in Arc Raiders, and hopefully, we'll see an even bigger crackdown on cheaters following Embark's ongoing efforts.
