Unregulated authorities: An ethnographic study on how streamers impact cheating dynamics in online gaming

Cheating is a significant issue in multiplayer video games, extending beyond a simple “technical matter” to encompass a variety of social interactions within a complex ecosystem. In this paper, we report the findings from a multi-year ethnography in Call of Duty: Warzone on the emergent role that streamers and content creators play in shaping the cheating phenomenon. We discovered that these figures gain authority by substituting formal and informal mentorship, which is rarely available within the game. Furthermore, the lack of clear codes of conduct regarding in-game illicit behaviors leaves room for the emergence of alternate “regulators”. In this context, streamers and content creators become moral authorities in charge of establishing what is “good” and what is “bad” in the game, producing, nonetheless, power asymmetries that may intensify conflicts within the game community.