Cheaters have unfortunately been a part of Grand Theft Auto Online since it launched in 2013 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. However, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 release kept most cheaters out, at least on consoles. The PC version is another story altogether, but after years of fighting the hackers, Rockstar Games wheeled out their latest weapon: BattlEye.
Since 2015, PC players have found themselves victimized by hacks and cheats, resulting in an overall "lesser" experience compared to consoles. This hasn't changed since despite anti-cheat efforts and ban waves, but Rockstar is hoping that it's not too late to make certain improvements with the introduction of a new anti-cheat system.
BattlEye was added to GTA Online as part of the latest update. It's one of the most popular anti-cheat programs on the market, used in titles like Destiny 2, Rainbow Six Siege, and Fortnite. It's a legitimate layer of protection that has already been working to keep some cheaters and hackers out of GTA Online.
The biggest benefit of BattlEye is the ability to ban entire user systems, so you can no longer just make new accounts to play GTA Online if you get banned for cheating or hacking. Such kernel-level anti-cheat is controversial, but undoubtedly effective.
