[Etheryte]

Just like any software, game cheats are build once, sell as many times as you can. If a game is popular, this can be a very lucrative business. The fact that game developers will play the cat and mouse game with you to block you out only adds to this fact, as so long as you can keep up, you can get repeat customers.

[nathas]

Now I want to read an article about the economics of selling game hacks. I just assumed they weren't really worth the investment to build since the number of people that want to cheat seems low.

After typing that I realize this is like coming to understand just how many people are on steroids to get a physique they want. It's like nah no one takes steroids except EVERY HUGE PERSON you've ever seen, barring the extremely rare genetic outliers.

Fascinating.

[zonkerdonker]

Would recommend this podcast from Darknet Diaries. [1] Not quite an article, but there is a transcript if you'd prefer to read. Includes interview with the people actually selling these hacks, and it is fascinating

[1] https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/115/

[shdh]

These are two good videos overviewing particular hack sites if you can get past the AI anime voice: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QmcFjpB8no * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiOhOY7PcIg

[glitter_warrior]

IIRC this darknet diaries episode does a good job covering the whole issue and talking about the economics - https://darknetdiaries.com/transcript/115/

[n4bz0r]

Despite the obnoxious intro, this interview turned out to be pretty interesting and answered a number of my questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwruk-tLIOU

[shdh]

This is a pretty good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI7V60r7Jco