It’s no secret that GTA Online offers the bare minimum of security for PC users; it’s 2013 era technology. As a result, popular Twitch streamers playing GTA Online are still experiencing issues where some cheaters mess with their lobbies to this day. As a result of Rockstar Games and GTA Online’s heavy reliance on peer-to-peer networking for games lobbies, cheaters are able to take lobbies offline or crash the game of specific players.
Peer-to-peer networking is often a dangerous protocol to use as it reveals potentially sensitive information visible to malicious cheaters. They can then use the info to DDOS, doxx, or generally make online life miserable for others others.
Despite content creators voicing concerns over this issue, nothing has been done to address it and Rockstar Games has yet to ever acknowledge the matter. This issue is only getting worse over time, now with TikTok creators using cheats to target Twitch streamers for a small amount of “clout”.
A popular GTA V speedrunner and content creator, DarkViperAU is one of the victims who regularly experiences DDOS attacks on his Twitch streams. DarkViperAU has voiced his frustrations at Rockstar Games on Twitter, but there’s still no public communication or visible action being taken.
A TikTok creator, “KILLTHESTREAMER”, who has over 800 followers on the platform, frequently posts short videos of them targeting streamers. In these videos, they target hundreds of GTA Online streamers in an attempt to ruin Twitch streams; this individual gains nearly 200 views per video uploaded on the platform and gains over 1,000 views per month.
This is an ongoing problem for Twitch streamers and other players and has been for years. We ask Rockstar Games and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, to review this problem and do something about it. It isn’t just hurting the overall player experience playing their game, but it’s also a security issue. Some players and streamers have to rely on VPN services to make sure that their IP addresses can’t be attacked; they shouldn’t have to do this.
The developers behind Call of Duty Warzone invested millions to protect the game from cheaters. The developers behind Call of Duty: Vanguard is set to release new cheat detection tools for that game’s release in November. If other game developers are able to pour enough resources into this problem, then Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive should tackle this issue more seriously.
Funny, KILLTHESTREAMER seems to be putting plenty of evidence of multiple counts of computer crime. All it would take is for the police to subpoena their IP address from their streaming platform. The platform itself could also likely ban their account for using it to promote their criminal activities..