Typically, regular players should not have access to this information as it gives an unfair advantage. Valve took action after discovering how the cheats were being used and set up a trap with a downloadable patch. This patch contained a “secret” area in the client that could only be accessed using third-party software. The players who fell for the trap were soon witnessing a ban from Valve as a consequence.

“This patch created a honeypot: a section of data inside the game client that would never be read during normal gameplay, but that could be read by these exploits. Each of the accounts banned today read from this ‘secret’ area in the client, giving us extremely high confidence that every ban was well-deserved,” a statement from Valve reads.

Dota 2‘s massive ban wave sets an example for the entire community, including professional players, who will be barred from all of Valve’s competitive events if caught cheating. The bans also serve as a warning to potential cheaters who engage in activities such as auto-aim, seeing through the Fog of War, and more.

Valve vows to keep fighting against Dota 2 cheaters by removing new exploits as they surface. The company thanked players who reported cheating and dealt with justified punishments. Meanwhile, Ubisoft also banned almost 19,000 accounts for using cheats in its games. Details of the games or software involved have not been disclosed.

Additionally, in a similar move, Riot Games warns players of potential new cheats as source codes for League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics were stolen last month. Ubisoft’s new ‘Mousetrap’ update also aims to detect hardware devices being used to cheat in Rainbow Six Siege. Instead of a ban, input lag will be gradually increased on the device.