'Regions Are Cheating and We Need to Address It' — Wardogs Dev Says Region Locking Is About 'Protecting the Largest Amount of Players'

Bulkhead is rolling out region locking in multiplayer first-person shooter Wardogs to, in the studio's words, protect "the largest amount of players from an influx of regions that are more prone to cheating." However, legitimate players in Asia have raised concerns, and cross-region players have criticized the developer for blocked from joining their friends.

The region lock is done by limiting the maximum ping — the player’s connection with the server — to 175. On paper, this is a fair, non-discriminatory way to stop players from distant regions from entering games with an unstable connection. According to Bulkhead, this would cut down on cheating, too.

“We have decided [to protect] the largest amount of players from an influx of regions that are more prone to cheating,” Bulkhead tweeted. “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 …