Researchers Expose $73 Million Gray Market for Online Game Cheats - 1

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Researchers Expose $73 Million Gray Market for Online Game Cheats

  • Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The underground cheating business in online games has been found to generate millions of dollars each year, with sellers earning between $12.8 million and $73.2 million annually.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Cheat sellers earn $12.8M–$73.2M annually from online game hacks.
  • 30,000–174,000 players buy cheats every month.
  • Cheats cost $10–$240 monthly, with prices based on anti-cheat difficulty.

According to new research , this cheat market operates through about 80 websites, selling products that include software that lets players see through walls, or AI-powered aimbots.

“People can really make a lot of money from selling cheats, and companies have a lot to lose if a game is seen as full of cheaters,” said Tom Chothia, cybersecurity professor at the University of Birmingham, as reported by WIRED .

At the Black Hat cybersecurity conference, researchers revealed that between 30,000 and 174,000 players purchase cheats each month, with prices ranging from $10 to $240. Cheat prices depend more on the difficulty of evading a game’s security systems than on the game’s popularity.

TechSpot notes that heating websites such as Engine Owning attract up to 500,000 monthly visitors, selling hacks for games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege, and Counter-Strike 2. Some vendors claim their products are completely undetectable and even offer customization options to fit individual player preferences.

“The kernel is the deepest part of the operating system, and if cheats operate from there while the anti-cheat does not, they can hide everything,” explained EA’s Elise Murphy, as reported by WIRED.

Chothia noted that during gameplay, “your laptop’s probably never as safe as when you are playing Fortnite; anti-cheat protection will actually keep you safe from a whole range of malware,” as reported by WIRED.

Despite these efforts, cheat developers update their tools every couple of days, ensuring the lucrative gray market shows no signs of disappearing.

OpenAI Restores GPT-4o Access And Lets Users Choose Models After Backlash - 2

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OpenAI Restores GPT-4o Access And Lets Users Choose Models After Backlash

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

OpenAI restored its GPT-4o model and ChatGPT’s model picker this Tuesday following user backlash. The startup had released GPT-5 last week with a new centralized approach that removed previous models—something many users disliked.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • OpenAI restored ChatGPT’s model picker feature and GPT-4o model after backlash.
  • Sam Altman announced that GPT-5’s usage limits have been expanded.
  • The company noted that it’s working on the latest model’s personality.

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, announced on the social media platform X new updates for the company’s chatbot. The latest and most advanced model, GPT-5, now offers multiple processing options, and the company has significantly extended its interaction capacity.

“You can now choose between ‘Auto’, ‘Fast’, and ‘Thinking’ for GPT-5,” wrote Altman, noting that most users will likely stick with the default “Auto” mode. “Rate limits are now 3,000 messages/week with GPT-5 Thinking, and then extra capacity on GPT-5 Thinking mini after that limit.”

Updates to ChatGPT: You can now choose between “Auto”, “Fast”, and “Thinking” for GPT-5. Most users will want Auto, but the additional control will be useful for some people. Rate limits are now 3,000 messages/week with GPT-5 Thinking, and then extra capacity on GPT-5 Thinking… — Sam Altman (@sama) August 13, 2025

Altman added that the limits could change in the future depending on usage. According to Tech Radar , the previous limit was just 200 messages per week, which sparked criticism, especially after the company removed access to the popular GPT-4o model, which has now been restored for paid users.

“4o is back in the model picker for all paid users by default,” explained Altman. “If we ever do deprecate it, we will give plenty of notice.”

In an interview with The Verge , OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, said they didn’t expect “the level of attachment” users had with the previous model and that the team was aiming for simplicity.

Altman added that paid users can enable the “Show additional models” setting to access multiple options, including o3, GPT-5 Thinking Mini, GPT-4.1, and GPT-4.5—the latter available only to Pro users.

Following the highly anticipated release of GPT-5 , users also complained about the model’s personality—now a recurring concern among users—as it was described as “corporate” and “bland.”

“We are working on an update to GPT-5’s personality, which should feel warmer than the current personality but not as annoying (to most users) as GPT-4o,” wrote Altman. “However, one learning for us from the past few days is we really just need to get to a world with more per-user customization of model personality.”