Cheating is everywhere. If you've spent more than five minutes in a Call of Duty lobby or tried to climb the ranks in Counter-Strike 2, you know the feeling. It’s that sinking realization that the guy who just headshot you through a brick wall from across the map probably isn't "just better." He’s likely using software that costs more than his monthly Netflix subscription. This culture of constant advantage-seeking has birthed a cynical mantra among frustrated players: ABC Always Be Cheating.
It sounds like a joke, but it isn’t. Not anymore.
The phrase itself is a dark play on the old sales adage "Always Be Closing," but for the modern gamer, it describes a landscape where competitive integrity feels like a relic of the past. We are living through an arms race. On one side, you have billion-dollar developers like Activision and Riot Games. On the other, you have a shadowy multi-million dollar industry of cheat providers who treat software development with the same professional rigor as a Silicon Valley startup.
The Reality Behind the ABC Always Be Cheating Mindset
Why do people do it? Honestly, the psychology is kind of fascinating and deeply depressing at the same time. It’s not just about winning; it’s about the "efficiency" of the grind. In an era where gaming is tied to social status, Twitch followers, and professional aspirations, some players view ABC Always Be Cheating as a necessary evil to keep up.
Take the case of Escape from Tarkov. A few years ago, a YouTuber named "The Wiggle" caused a massive stir by documenting just how many players were using "ESP" (Extra Sensory Perception) to see through walls. He found that in a staggering number of raids, players would "wiggle" at him through solid objects, acknowledging their shared status as cheaters. They weren't even trying to kill everyone; they were just using cheats to avoid combat and find the best loot.
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This is the "soft" side of cheating. It’s not always blatant spin-bots. Sometimes it’s just a "recoil macro" on a mouse or a subtle aim-assist tweak that makes a mediocre player look like a pro.
The Rise of DMA and Hardware Cheats
Software-based cheats are becoming old news. If you’re really serious about the ABC Always Be Cheating lifestyle, you’re looking at DMA (Direct Memory Access) cards. These are physical pieces of hardware that you plug into your PC. They allow a second, completely separate computer to read the memory of your gaming PC.
Because the cheat isn't actually running on the computer you're playing on, most traditional anti-cheats like Ricochet or BattlEye have a nightmare of a time detecting them. It’s essentially "invisible" to the operating system. This is the new frontier. It’s expensive, it’s complicated, and it’s remarkably effective.
We also have to talk about AI-powered aimbots. These use capture cards to analyze the visual data of the game in real-time, just like a human eye would. The AI then sends mouse movements to the computer. Since the software never touches the game’s code or its memory, it becomes nearly impossible to catch through traditional digital signatures.
Why Anti-Cheat Software Feels Like Malware
If you’ve played Valorant, you’ve met Vanguard. It’s Riot’s kernel-level anti-cheat. When it first launched, the community went nuclear. Why? Because Vanguard starts the moment you turn on your computer. It sits at "Ring 0," the deepest level of your operating system, with more permissions than almost any other software you own.
Players feel stuck.
To play the games they love, they have to invite a digital watchdog into the very core of their privacy. It’s a trade-off that many find increasingly unacceptable. Yet, developers argue that without this level of intrusion, the ABC Always Be Cheating crowd would make games completely unplayable. It’s a literal tug-of-war where the player’s privacy is the rope.
The Economics of the Cheat Industry
Let’s be real: this is a business. A big one.
Major cheat providers operate with subscription models. You don't just "buy" a cheat; you pay $30, $50, or even $100 a month for "protection" against bans. These companies have customer support teams. They have Discord servers with thousands of members. They have "dev logs" and "roadmap updates."
When a game like Warzone releases a patch to break certain cheats, the providers often have a workaround ready within hours. It is a cat-and-mouse game where the mouse has a jetpack and a PhD in computer science. For every "ban wave" a developer announces, the cheat forums are filled with users laughing about how they’ve already moved to a new spoofed hardware ID.
Is Competitive Gaming Actually Dead?
It's a fair question. If the barrier to entry for cheating is getting lower and the sophistication is getting higher, can we ever trust a leaderboard again?
Many high-level players have simply moved to moderated, third-party platforms like FACEIT for Counter-Strike. These platforms use even more aggressive anti-cheat measures and manual "demo reviews" by human admins. But even there, the suspicion remains. The "cheat-usation" culture is toxic. Now, whenever someone hits a lucky shot, the chat is immediately flooded with "ABC" or "He's definitely toggling."
This paranoia is arguably worse for the game than the cheaters themselves. It erodes the sense of community. It makes every loss feel unfair and every win feel hollow.
What Developers Are Trying (and Failing) to Do
- Server-Side Validation: Games are trying to do more "thinking" on the server so the client (your PC) can’t lie about where you are or what you’re doing.
- Trust Factors: Valve uses "Trust Factor," which looks at your account age, spend history, and report rate to group "good" players together.
- Phone Verification: Requiring a unique phone number to play ranked matches. It helps, but "burner" numbers are easy to get.
- Machine Learning: Analyzing movement patterns to see if a human is physically capable of the snaps a player is making.
The Actionable Truth for the Average Gamer
You can't stop the ABC Always Be Cheating trend on your own, but you can change how you interact with it. If you're tired of the constant suspicion, there are ways to protect your sanity and your hobby.
First, stop obsessing over the killcam. Lag compensation, server tick rates, and simple luck often look like cheating in a 2-second replay. If you dwell on every death, you'll burn out in a week.
Second, pivot to games with "Heavier" server-side architecture. Tactical shooters and Battle Royales are prone to cheats because they rely heavily on client-side data for speed. Fighting games or card games (like Street Fighter 6 or Magic: The Gathering Arena) are significantly harder to "cheat" in because the server dictates almost every outcome.
Third, if you’re on PC, keep your system clean. Don't go looking for "free" cheats or "game boosters." Half of those files are just trojans designed to steal your Discord token or your crypto wallet. The "cheating" industry prey on its own customers just as much as it ruins games.
Finally, vote with your time. If a game is overrun and the developers are silent, stop playing. The only way companies will invest the massive capital required for next-gen anti-cheat is if they see their player counts—and their revenue—dropping.
The "Always Be Cheating" era is a symptom of a gaming culture that prizes the destination (the rank) over the journey (the skill). Until that shifts, the arms race will only get more expensive and more intrusive.
Practical Steps to Take Now
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) everywhere. Cheaters love stealing high-level accounts to use as "burners" so they don't get their own accounts banned.
- Record your gameplay. If you genuinely encounter a cheater, a video report is infinitely more effective than a simple in-game click.
- Explore "Console Only" crossplay. If you're on PlayStation or Xbox, disabling cross-play with PC is the single most effective way to avoid 99% of the most egregious software cheats, though Cronus and XIM devices still exist on consoles.
- Join moderated communities. Play in private leagues or Discord-based "in-house" games where there is actual human oversight.