Among Us, have you ever played this game? The game is simple where some players enter a room and try to look for the impostor while doing some missions. Of course, it is also possible for you to be the impostor. Whether you are the crew or the impostor, it has been determined before the game is started.
Despite the ease of playing the game, Among Us is currently very popular in the realm of Smartphone online gamers. It is widely played by people all around the world and gives extra profits for the developer, Innersloth.
However, the betrayal and sabotage in the game has been on another level. They are even more than what have been intended by the developer. He is James Sebree, a researcher for Tenable, a security firm. Sebree published an article in his blog that explains how the game is really prone to betrayal, even more than the betrayal that really should be in the game. Yes, Among Us is relatively easy to hack. The hacks and cheats he finds may be relatively simple. It doesn’t damage the game program, in general. But sure, it probably makes other players feel not comfortable when playing.
The Unintended Hacks
Some of the cheats even damage the basic mechanism of the game. One of them is when the players collaborate with the space station while trying to identify the impostor who must sabotage and kill the crew. This way, even the crew can kill their fellows while it is not the rule of the game. Other cheats that are possibly done because of the hacks are transforming to other players, teleporting, walking through the wall, increasing the speed, and even controlling the movement of other players.
Another sabotage that is really disadvantageous for the developer is when the player can get paid items for free. Of course, for this matter, it is definitely wrong and it can be categorized as a theft action if you want.
Seeing the Code
Sebree is a big fan of the game. He has played Among Us with his friends since September and he admits that the game is so much fun. By the end of September, he could see the game code. He tried to look at it further to modify the game so that multiplayer for more than 10 people can play in the same room.
However, Sebree later saw that there are more possibilities to change the rules of the game. There are so many problems that may happen if the code is kept like that. After working in it, some cheats mentioned above are possible to do particularly by those who know the code. Well, hacking the game is really easy if the developer doesn’t make some changes.
The Bug of the Game
Problems in a program are known also as bugs. So, the primary bug in Among Us, according to Sebree, is that the server doesn’t design to validate the information that is sent to the client. The basic security of the program is also weak that enables players to do some hacks and cheats even if those cheats may not be disadvantageous for the developer directly.
This problem is actually really common to happen. Even for big games with complex security systems, possibilities for hacking and cheating still often happen. You can just see that some people even offer tricks to get coins and supporters in a big game. For a smaller game like Among Us, the possibility is getting bigger.
Furthermore, Sebree also stated that he can reverse the code back using some tools, for example, dnSpy and IL2CPP, and create the modified version of the game.
Sure, Sebree is not the only person who successfully hacks the game. Even Among Us has been infiltrated by hackers who support Trump around October and it causes fuss among the players. Other hackers choose to do their actions quietly just for their own fun and victory. Well, if you can get the supporting tools in the game for free, why must you pay for them?
Responses from Innersloth
Fortunately, when contacting Innersloth, the game developer, the team said that they are in the process to investigate the problem. So far, some hacks and problems have been successfully handled. Some hacks to solve are changing the character’s color, identifying impostor, killing other players instantly, and more. Sure, the Trump thing is also no longer found in the game. Hopefully, it can be a good lesson for the team of Among Us and other game developers to improve their systems before launching their products in the market.
