It looks like Battlefield 6 is starting to ban cheaters using Cronus Zen

EA is making good on its word to be strict with cheaters in Battlefield 6: Screenshots shared on social media that show conversations from a Discord server the cheaters are using indicate that the company has started banning players who make use of the Cronus Zen. There also appear to be multiple reports from banned cheaters themselves, warning others about using the device on PC.

One widely spread screenshot showing what’s claimed to be a related ban message appears to be fake, though: The message contains grammar mistakes and shows the icon for an H-button where an A-button should be depicted. It’s also not EA’s usual policy to name specific products in ban messages or show a particular game’s logo. Usually, only EA’s company logo is present.

These devices can be plugged into a PC or console to trick the machine into thinking that the user is playing with a controller, while they’re actually using keyboard and mouse, granting them such benefits as aim assist and recoil control. Naturally, this leads to an unnaturally high degree of control when aiming and firing, giving these players an unfair advantage over others.

The developers of the hardware cheat have been advising buyers to stop using the device for Battlefield 6 temporarily to give them time to test how EA is detecting the device’s use. As has always been the case, this is likely to end up in an arms race between the makers of the cheat and the anti-cheat developers. So long as the method of detection remains obscure, however, EA will have the upper hand.

Amusingly, the Cronus Zen developers asked users that “no one shares or discusses any bans” as “this draws unnecessary attention to the community and makes testing more difficult.” With the bans being widely celebrated by the game’s community on social media sites and this post itself being shared all over the internet, floating under the radar looks like an unlikely option.

EA has some prior experience fighting Cronus Zen, as the device is also notorious for its use in its battle royale shooter Apex Legends.

The scale of the ban wave is currently unclear, however, as some Cronus Zen users on the Discord server report that they have not incurred a ban and can use the device just fine. It’s possible that EA can only detect the device under specific circumstances or that the bans are being rolled out slowly to avoid catching innocents in the crossfire.

Still, cheaters are getting banned and that’s undoubtedly a good thing.

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