Mousetrap: Explained: Ubisoft’s Mousetrap anti-cheating system and how it discourages ‘toxic’ gameplay – Times of India

Rainbow Six Siege creator Ubisoft has recently kicked off year eight of the game. With this new season, the gaming studio has introduced a new anti-cheat system. The latest system claims to discourage Rainbow Six Siege players from using devices that combine controller inputs with the benefits of a mouse and keyboard setup on a console. In a blog post, the game maker has revealed that players who try cheating using third-party devices like XIM will soon start noticing more input latency that will cause trouble with their aim.
What are these devices
Certain players use third-party devices like XIM, Cronus Zen and ReaSnow S1 in various online shooting games which allows them to get the best of both worlds (controller and mouse-keyboard setups). These devices allow mouse and keyboard users to leverage controller features like aim assist, combined with the advantages of movement offered by the mouse and keyboard setup. Moreover, usage of such devices is also steadily increasing across online shooter games including Overwatch, Call of Duty, Destiny 2, Rainbow Six Siege and others.
How these devices are affecting other players
These devices help players to misuse such advantages to win against players who are participating ethically. Jan Stahlhacke, gameplay programming team lead for Rainbow Six Siege has shared a video message for players on YouTube. Stahlhacke said, “This is a problem that all console shooters have, especially the competitive ones. There hasn’t really been a reliable solution for this yet, in fact, the devices they’re using are specifically designed to be undetectable.”

What is the Mousetrap system
Mousetrap is a system developed by Ubisoft that can detect such third-party devices on consoles. The game maker has also mentioned that it has been silently running this system in the background for several seasons. Mousetrap has also helped Ubisoft to build a detection system and track the players who are using this third-party hardware.
Stahlhacke has claimed, “We know exactly which players are spoofing and when they were spoofing. We also know that at the highest ranks spoofers become much more common.”

How will Mousetrap cause problems for players using special hardware
Ubisoft has confirmed that it will start applying extra latency to players using such devices to cause troubles with their aim and movement with a mid-season update. Stahlhacke has explained that the problems caused by this system will, “start out really unnoticeable, but it’s going to ramp up over several matches and it’ll definitely be noticeable.”
To remove the extra latency, players using such special hardware will have to unplug the device. The latency will automatically reduce after a few matches. However, these devices are also used by players with disabilities. Ubisoft has claimed to be aware of this situation and has also asked for feedback from players in the community that might get affected by these changes.