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Contents6
  1. Consumer impact summary
  2. Incidents
  3. Chinese Government Ties
  4. Technical Implications
  5. Privacy and Security Assurances
  6. References

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Anti-Cheat Expert
Basic Information
Release Year 2005
Product Type Anti-cheat, Software
In Production Yes
Official Website https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/

Anti-Cheat Expert commonly abbreviated as "ACE" is an modular anti-cheat system developed by Tencent, that initially released in 2005 as a anti-bot solution for Free Fantasy Online. [1]

ACE provides cheat prevention for PC as well as Android [2] and iOS [3] however the mobile versions do not run at the Kernel level and operates less invasively than the PC version. ACE also offers server side solutions [4] and moderation tools [5]

ACE on PC is a modular kernel level anti-cheat that allows game developers to enable or disable certain features, such as the anti-cheat running 24/7, as well as add their own game specific checks.

Consumer impact summary

Freedom

If a game publisher chooses ACE will be running from computer startup, even when not playing. As a kernel-level anti-cheat on PC, Anti-Cheat Expert has the highest level of access to your computer.

Privacy

ACE on PC is a kernel-level (ring 0) anti-cheat meaning it has access to everything on your computer and therefore depending on the game publishers configuration it could be a 24/7 anti cheat similar to Riot Vanguard. ACE also loads multiple drivers based on what features game publishers enable. Anti-Cheat Expert is created by Tencent, which has strong ties with the Chinese government.[citation needed (2025-10-15)]

Incidents

Chinese Government Ties

ACE is created by Tencent which has close ties to the Chinese Government and is bound by Chinese laws. [6]

Technical Implications

The kernel-level access combined with potential government compulsion is particularly concerning because:

  • Ring 0 access provides complete system control.
  • Users cannot monitor or restrict ACE's activities at this level.
  • Depending on the game the anti-cheat maybe be running 24/7 which means the system is potentially vulnerable even when not gaming.
  • The software could theoretically be used as a backdoor if compelled by authorities.
  • The software could have a negative performance impact even when doing other if the game publishers has chosen the driver to run 24/7

Privacy and Security Assurances

  • Some documentation is available publicly [7]
  • ACE provides a uninstaller in the ACE installation folder [8]

Consumer Response

References

  1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Cheat_Expert (Archived)
  2. ↑ https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/products/anti-cheat-android (Archived)
  3. ↑ https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/products/anti-cheat-ios (Archived)
  4. ↑ https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/products/economy-risk-management (Archived)
  5. ↑ https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/products/content-moderation (Archived)
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Cheat_Expert (Archived)
  7. ↑ https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/doc-center/ (Archived)
  8. ↑ https://intl.anticheatexpert.com/doc-center/884daf3ac6cd65d2ced6ab280d21ed75354b9ac0 (Archived)
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