'Dark Souls: Remastered' Latest Patch Rolled Out to Curb Cheating Invaders in Online Multiplayer

FromSoftware, the developer of the much acclaimed “Dark Souls” series, has just a released an update for its most recent “Dark Souls: Remastered” title. The update has targetted two specific issues, namely hacking and griefing, which largely ruin the experience of playing the new “Souls” title.

The prevalence of hackers upon “Dark Souls: Remastered's” release has affected the game's reception. Steam reviews at the time of this article's publishing are already being flooded by negative feedback, with a significant amount complaining about cheating. The feedback score has aggregated to a “mixed” review state in comparison to "Dark Souls I," "Dark Souls II," and "Dark Souls III," which currently hold a review score of “Very Positive” on the platform.

Hacking has already been endemic in the “Dark Souls” and “Demon Souls” online community for a long time. Cheaters usually use hacks which allow them to stack multiple negative effects on other players, or purposefully use cheats that make them invulnerable or unhittable during PVP.

The second issue targetted by the patch is a recent bug on the PlayStation 4 and PC version of the game which renders invaders invisible when they enter another player's realm. The “Souls” game community has a reputation for very aggressive griefing. Griefing in video game parlance is the act of infuriating a fellow player by exploiting the game's features to provide a negative play experience (NPEs). In the Venn diagram of NPEs for “Souls” games, griefers and hackers overlap quite often.

This reputation affects not just the recent “Dark Souls: Remastered” game but even much earlier titles like “Demon Souls.” Being ganked by an invisible invader is very much a game-breaking experience, more so than someone who just intentionally griefs.

We have yet to see if this recent patch will significantly deter the experience of interacting with hackers in “Dark Souls: Remastered.” For the full patch notes, see the official “Dark Souls: Remastered” website here