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Microsoft implemented an anti-cheat feature in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update was released just a couple of days ago, and included great features like OneDrive Files On-Demand and the Fluent Design System, as well as fixing bugs such as the DirectX 9 memory allocation issue. Apparently, Microsoft added an anti-cheat feature, dubbed 'TruePlay', in the update as well - the inclusion of which went largely unnoticed.

TruePlay was first revealed back in July, in an Insider Preview Build. The feature will run a protected process for any game that is enrolled in the anti-cheat system, alleviating most common attacks. Gaming sessions will be monitored by a Windows service, with data collection as well, for indications of common cheating occurrences. In a possible cheating scenario, developers will be alerted with the data - but only when it has been processed, to increase the likelihood of cheating actually having occurred before a report is made.

The following functions for TruePlay have been detailed:

  • EnableActiveGameMonitoring: Indicate whether or not the game is operating in a mode where cheat monitoring is desired. This doesn't necessarily stop data collection but will mark any captured data or anti-cheat system failures as ignorable.
  • GetGameMonitoringPermissionState: Get the current game monitoring permission state on the device. If the currently signed in user has not given permission or if a system administrator has disabled game monitoring, this will return false. When this returns false, no monitoring data will be transmitted or shared.
  • ReportGameActivity: Trigger a challenge to the local system that the TruePlay system is active. If the anti-cheat system isn't already running, it will be started. Games should call this once every few minutes during game play.
  • SetGameActivityCorrelationId: Allow the game to set a correlation ID. Developers can use these IDs to correlate TruePlay data logs with the game’s own session logs.

Gamers can disable these monitoring capabilities at will, but this will prevent them from launching parts of the games which have been included by the developers in this protection mode. As such, the anti-cheat system probably won't be too much of a nuisance for gamers who prefer single-player titles.

The success of TruePlay largely depends upon the accuracy of the monitoring system; it probably won't gain any popularity if innocent users keep getting reported to developers. Currently, only Universal Windows Platform (UWP) game developers will be able to utilize the API, limiting its use to games like Forza Motorsport 7 and Gears Of War 4 - assuming developers of these games choose to deploy the anti-cheat, that is. It is not yet clear whether support will be extended to traditional Win32 games as well.

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Via: VG247

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