"Mousetrap" is an anti-cheat technology developed for Rainbow Six Siege that aims to detect and punish "spoofers," or players who use a mouse and keyboard on a console to gain an accuracy advantage over those who use a controller. Ubisoft announced the system (opens in new tab) in February and said it would go live in April, but it may have been a bit premature, as some Xim Apex users have already reported that their devices have been detected.

Conventional wisdom has held that when it comes to shooters, the speed and accuracy of a mouse is inherently superior to that of a controller. For example, as far back as 2010, Rahul Sood, founder of Voodoo PC, claimed that Microsoft decided not to allow cross-play between PC and Xbox 360 consoles. More recently, Jeff Kaplan, former director of Overwatch, stated that Blizzard "opposes the use of mice and keyboards on consoles (opens in new tab) and urges first-party console makers to "either prohibit the use of mice, keyboards, and input conversion devices or continue to lobby for open and easy mouse and keyboard support for all players."

Games that officially ban the use of mouse and keyboard cannot simply be controlled by connecting a mouse and keyboard to the console; a device like the Xim Apex (opens in new tab) is required: essentially, for $100 plus shipping, Xbox and PlayStation owners It is essentially an adapter that allows Xbox and PlayStation owners to use PC controls for any game for $100 plus shipping. The box works by making the console think the mouse or keyboard input is a normal controller; there is no Aimbot or wall hacking going on, so it's not exactly cheating, but it's not cricket either.

Ubisoft's decision to crack down on Mousetrap (open in new tab) is also a sufficient departure from this type of cheating. The technology, which as far as we know is the first of its kind, is designed to apply a high level of input delay to the spoofer's controls instead of detecting and banning players who are using such setups (and this is the really good part).

"In short, when the penalty is enabled, it is more difficult for the operator to aim and shoot." If MnK use is still detected, lag starts low and builds up over several games."

Clever and devious. Liked.

The plan was to roll out this system in April during Siege's Year 8 Season 1.2 update, but users on the Xim community forum (opens in new tab) have already reported that their devices are being detected. There is some question as to whether the input lag is being applied or whether the detection warning is just being displayed as a warning that the hammer is coming. Either way, Xim Apex users are nervous, and Xim itself is looking for ways to prevent spoofing, including implementing new privacy options.

"What you play, who you game with, and what devices you use to play your games is your business," says Xim. To this end, we'd like to introduce a new feature called Privacy Gaming Settings, which we're calling "Privacy Gaming Settings. The first game we will support in this new way is Rainbow Six Siege."

The Mouse Trap UI was turned off hours after the unexpected activation, but a Ubisoft representative later confirmed in a statement sent to PC Gamer that the full Mouse Trap feature and input lag penalty were not displayed, although a warning message was displayed. However, Xim is using the activation as an opportunity to prepare for the future.

"Thank you all for testing things out today and reporting your findings," a Xim representative said in a forum thread. 'We've learned a lot in this short time. We have learned a lot in this short time. Please continue to use the new privacy settings and provide feedback so we can improve the process. "

In other words, at least at this stage, Xim does not seem ready to throw in the towel on its technology, which could point to a new technological arms race between Ubisoft and the makers of assistive devices that don't care. We have asked Ubisoft for comment and will update if we hear back.