Bulkhead is rolling out region locking in its multiplayer first-person shooter Wardogs — and fans are not happy. The studio says the move is about protecting “the largest amount of players from an influx of regions that are more prone to cheating,” but legitimate players in Asia and cross-region friends say they’re being punished for a problem they didn’t cause.
“Regions are cheating and we need to address it,” Bulkhead stated bluntly. “It’s disappointing for us to have to put these divisions in place with social experience being such a core focus of Wardogs, but we must prioritize the largest group of players over the minority.”
Wardogs (Credits: Bulkhead / IGN)
How Wardogs Region Lock Works: 175 Ping Limit
The region lock is done by limiting the maximum ping to 175 — effectively blocking players from distant regions with unstable connections from joining games. On paper, Bulkhead says, this is a fair, non-discriminatory approach that also cuts down on cheating. But the framing has drawn backlash: one American player with Australian friends called it a “bulls**t change” and demanded the studio stop dancing around the issue, while some players are already asking for refunds after being blocked from playing with international friends.
Wardogs Anti-Cheat Gamble: Will Region Locking Work?
Bulkhead admitted the system is “more than a switch to make a meaningful impact,” saying region locking is in progress on the backend. “We’re sorry we let it get to this point that we are forced to make this decision, but we felt that giving certain regions the opportunity to prevail was the right move. Unfortunately, it has not panned out as we’d hoped and we’ll be getting stricter on cross pollination of regions.” The studio’s gamble: alienate a minority of cross-region players to protect the majority from cheaters.
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Source: IGN — read the full story there.
