"Both gameplay and the economy suffers": Arc Raiders devs commit to suspending dupe exploit users, among other "enforcement actions" for the shooter’s first cheat "at such scale"

After a week of what I imagine must have been intense deliberation about the nature of justice, Arc Raiders developer Embark is ready to start spanking players who have used its now somewhat fixed, and infamous, duplication glitch.

The exploit allowed players to double, triple, and multiply by 22 the loot of their choice, and it was, as Embark writes in a new blog post addressing the matter making it so that "both gameplay and the economy suffers." Finally, the studio will begin handing out a range of punishments for those who used the infinite dupe glitch, including suspensions.

"These exploits stemmed from a design flaw on our part," Embark acknowledges. Later, the studio says, "At the same time, our responsibility is, and must be, to act with fairness and accuracy [...] We want to act once, with intention, and with confidence that we're doing the right thing. This is the first time we've handled an incident of this nature at such scale in ARC Raiders."

Ultimately, the studio is committing to a range of actions "based on severity, intent, frequency, and impact." At the most innocuous end of the spectrum, Embark will issue warnings or remove Coins "tied to exploit activity." But duplication fanatics whose cheating made "a significant impact on the in-game economy or other players' experience" will be suspended.

"Our goal is to keep the game fair for everyone, and that means holding all players to the same standard," Embark says. It adds, "We understand the severity of this situation."

Arc Raiders immediately suffers an infinite ammo exploit after Embark fixes a dupe, heightening criticism of the studio's soft response to cheaters.