Majority Of Xbox Users Find Cheating Acceptable, PlayStation Gamers Admit Doing The Same: Study

The COVID-19 pandemic locked down the world and for some, playing video games is the best way to kill boredom. One thing that gamers can agree on is that cheating is not a pleasant experience, especially if they are on the receiving end. A new study has revealed some interesting results that break stereotypes when it comes to in-game cheating.

A survey conducted by Time2Play found out that "74% of gamers believed cheaters have ruined" their overall gaming experience while 61% noted they have been caught cheating in-game.

Interestingly, despite the negative undertone, 81% of respondents are fine with cheating when playing alone while 77% of respondents claimed, "it is acceptable to cheat when playing video games." Apparently, gamers have different perspectives when it comes to cheating.

"Exploiting glitches in the game and looking up answers online were considered cheating by most respondents," the survey revealed. "Just a small 4% said it was unacceptable to look answers up online," it added.

"There were some moral barriers gamers were less likely to cross. For example, gamers felt it was best to try three or four attempts at something before cheating or perusing solutions online," the study discovered. "Gamers were also less likely to consider cheating acceptable when playing with others, as opposed to playing alone," it further revealed.

The comprehensive survey also discovered among its respondents that 78% of men and 75% of women "were nearly equal in their likelihood to accept cheating." Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millenials are not as open about cheating compared to Gen Zers.

In terms of the biggest cheaters among gaming platforms, "80% of Xbox users find cheating acceptable, while only 13% of Xbox users are perceived as the biggest cheaters," Time2Play told International Business Times on email. Additionally, only 29% of PlayStation gamers are perceived as cheaters while 81% of the PlayStation respondents believe cheating is acceptable.

PC gamers are widely perceived as the biggest cheaters and according to the survey, 78% of PC gamers find cheating acceptable. Nintendo gamers are less perceived as cheaters but the survey revealed that 77% of hybrid console gamers found cheating acceptable.

The latest survey also disclosed the top ten games with the most cheaters. "Among Us" topped the spot followed by "Animal Crossing," "Apex Legends," "Battlefield V," "Grand Theft Auto," "ARK: Survival Evolved," "Black Desert," "Call of Duty: Black Ops," "FIFA" and "Fortnite."