The developers of WARDOGS are taking cheating seriously. The team has banned 185,000 accounts in one large crackdown, and says more bans are on the way.
AI scanned 187 million hours of gameplay
The ban wave was built on a lot of data. The developers say they analysed 187 million hours of gameplay using AI and machine learning to find suspicious behaviour.
Their numbers show how big the cheating problem had become:
- Almost 4 million players have tried WARDOGS
- 4.89% of them were found using cheats
- In Europe, 5.7% of copies sold were flagged for cheating
In other words, roughly one player in twenty was cheating. In a tactical shooter where a single death can decide a round, that is enough to ruin the game for everyone else.
Boosting networks were hit too
This was not only aimed at people running aimbots. The developers also went after paid boosting services:
- They infiltrated paid boosting networks to see how they operated
- Players who bought boosts had their progress and in-game currency wiped
- Buyers were permanently banned
- The people running these services lost the ability to host servers
Going after the buyers is the part we like most. As long as people can pay to skip the grind with no risk, boosting services will keep coming back. Wiping the progress and banning the account removes the reason to buy.
Trust Score system planned for 2027
The developers say a Trust Score system is coming in 2027. Details are still thin, but systems like this usually match players with similar behaviour scores, so clean players are less likely to end up in lobbies with suspected cheaters.
They also expect a wave of negative Steam reviews from banned players, and they have said so openly. Being upfront about that is smart. It helps regular players read any sudden review bomb for what it is.
Where WARDOGS stands on Steam
WARDOGS launched in Early Access on September 10, 2026, and it is still pulling big numbers. Here is the latest from our WARDOGS player count page:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| All-time peak | 402,686 (Sep 20, 2026) |
| Playing at time of writing | 87,935 |
| Average this month | 63,857 (down 53.47% vs last month) |
| Steam rating | 73%, Mostly Positive |
| Price | $39.99 |
The monthly average has dropped, which is normal after a huge launch. Cheaters can speed up a drop like that, because honest players quit when every lobby feels compromised. If this ban wave works, it could help the game keep players over the long run.
It will be worth watching how the review score and player count respond over the next few weeks. You can follow both live on our WARDOGS Steam chart, or compare it with other shooters using our Steam game comparison tool.
