China is going after video game cheats

Cheating in some video games (for instance "Call of Duty" and "Counter-Strike") has become so commonplace that many players regularly complain about it -- and rightly so. An investigation conducted by the Chinese authorities and the computer giant Tencent over the course of a year has led to the dismantling of a network of providers of cheating software. Likely the biggest legal action ever taken against such providers, the investigation found that the group reportedly raised more than $760 million.

While the purchase of cheating software is not a new phenomenon, it has become an extremely lucrative business. Players often purchase, through the black market, a subscription for a set period of time (up to about $200 per month) that gives them access to software offering them a huge advantage. And the suppliers were making over $10,000 a day from this scheme. And the investigation found that they spent their gains on real estate, virtual currency and luxury cars.

After obtaining information, Kunshan police raided multiple locations, shut down 17 websites and arrested 10 vendors, the official report said. The reason why this is the biggest seizure in the world comes down to three key factors, Kunshan police explained: First, because huge amounts of money were involved. Second, since there were a lot of games involved including games from countries other than China. The last factor is simply due to the huge volume of users. Indeed, the providers were not only operating in China.