PUBG Mobile hacks: World's largest video game cheats developer that earned more than $70 million now shut down

PUBG Mobile is undeniably a huge success, as it has become one of the most famous battle royale games in the mobile market. In March of this year, the game surpassed one billion downloads and $5 billion in lifetime earnings.

Gaming has substantially grown in the past few years, which has made cheating a widespread menace. Selling cheats has also become a lucrative option for crooks, and there has been a substantial increase in the sale of such illegal software.

PUBG Mobile has had its fair share of problems with hackers, and its enormous popularity has led many to create and sell hacks. To combat this, the developers started Project: Ban Pan to crack down on the source of the problem.

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Chinese authorities bust PUBG Mobile cheating ring 'Chicken Drumstick'

PUBG Mobile cheating ring named Chicken Drumstick has been busted (Image via PUBG Mobile)

Tencent reported one of the biggest cheat providers to the Chinese authorities, 'Cheat Ninja,' referred to as Chicken Drumstick or Sharpshooter. Supposedly, it has earned more than $70 million from selling cheats.

Sharpshooter was a popular hack in the PUBG Mobile community, with hundreds of resellers spreading its market in different regions. It apparently had numerous illicit features like wallhack and aimbot. Cheat Ninja operated multiple channels to sell its cheats, including various cheating forums and messaging apps.

An in-depth report by VICE provides an insight into this vast cheating ring that has flourished in the last few years. The organization is reportedly led by a person who was granted the alias "Catfish." The crackdown against the organization started in 2020 when numerous resellers were arrested.

Catfish's attention was drawn to the disappearances of several of his Chinese colleagues. Meanwhile, it was then the behavior of the admin 'IIIIIIIII' that raised the alarm. Their arrests forced him to shut down the entire organization in January and go into hiding.

Don't mess around, or the #BanPan will bring you down 🍳 From May 21-27, we banned 853,945 accounts from accessing our game. The majority of reasons include:❌ X-Ray Vision❌ Auto-Aim Hacks❌ Speed HacksLearn more at 🔗https://t.co/YdeCgfdOcr #PUBGMOBILE pic.twitter.com/R8twueqwgJ

— PUBG MOBILE (@PUBGMOBILE) May 30, 2021

Once he caught wind of the arrest, he wiped the servers running the cheats. Additionally, he destroyed any hard drives containing cheating-related information.

The report also explains the origins of the cheating empire that accumulated a million-dollar profit and attracted 600,000 users a month.

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