Tactical FPS Arena Breakout Infinite takes "severe action" to halt illegal trade

It's been a great first month for Arena Breakout: Infinite. The realistic tactical shooter caught our eye throughout early access, but it's really come into its own with the full release, which booted out monetization worries and established the newcomer as a proper rival to the likes of Escape From Tarkov and the upcoming Arc Raiders. Competition among the best FPS games is only getting stronger, however, and developer Morefun is working to hold onto its position by taking "severe action" against misbehaving players disrupting the economy with real-world trades.

For its 1.0 launch, Arena Breakout Infinite stripped out the ability to buy its in-game currency, Koen, with real money to remove potential pay-to-win concerns. Combined with upgraded anti-cheat, Morefun doubled down on its "commitment to fair play," and it looks to be paying off. In its first month, player numbers on Steam have largely stayed above the 50,000 mark, cementing ABI's position among the best multiplayer games ahead of the imminent arrival of both Tarkov and Arc Raiders on the platform.

In a new update, the team is taking action against people that have found ways to circumvent these fair-play systems. "We recently discovered a small number of players have been conducting real-world trades that break the rules," Morefun writes. It says these troublemakers are "manipulating the matchmaking system to transfer valuable, tradable supplies (e.g. advanced ammo) into a raid to quickly obtain large amounts of Koen."

It warns that "engaging in offline trades encourages the growth of illicit farming and cheat usage to acquire items," and thus the developer "will be taking severe action against these violations." Sellers will have all their nefariously obtained supplies (or their value in Koen) confiscated, and they'll be hit with escalating bans, with severe violations resulting in suspensions of up to ten years.

On the buyer's side, Morefun will take away "all of the profits gained through this method" and lower the offender's merit score. It notes that in the case of repeat infringements, you can expect to have "up to double the illicitly obtained items' value in Koen confiscated." The dev urges anyone who encounters rule-breakers to submit a report through any of the official Arena Breakout channels.

Furthermore, Morefun says it has spotted some leaderboard tricksters. "A few players have been falsely boosting the amount of loot they extract from the raid with," it explains, "which severely undermines the fairness of the 'extracted loot' leaderboard rankings." Anyone caught will get a temporary leaderboard ban and a deduction to their merit score; repeat offenders will have both aspects taken away entirely.

Yet to join the action? Check the updated Arena Breakout Infinite system requirements for 1.0. Alternatively, find even more free Steam games worth your time.

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