The Cheating Scandal Rocking Monster Hunter World’s Speedrunning Community
In 2023, the Monster Hunter World speedrunning community was stunned by the unprecedented rise of a Chinese speedrunner known as “Bad Cat.” Within a short span, this speedrunner shattered world records at an astonishing pace, leaving the community both in awe and in doubt. What unfolded next was a story of deceit that shook the foundations of Monster Hunter World speedrunning—a revelation that many of the records weren’t the product of sheer skill or luck, but of manipulation and cheating.
The Rise of Bad Cat: A New Force in Speedrunning
Bad Cat quickly became a household name within the Monster Hunter World community, dominating the game in ways that no one had ever seen. Every few days, a new world record was posted, with Bad Cat consistently outperforming every other player by wide margins. Their performance seemed almost too good to be true—because it was.
In Monster Hunter, like many other games, speedrunning is not just a test of skill but also of luck. Monster behavior in the game is random, which means that optimal monster behavior—such as the specific moves or actions a monster takes during a fight—can vary wildly between runs. For speedrunners, this means that achieving world records often requires not just talent, but a significant amount of grinding to get that perfect, lucky run where the monster behaves in the most favorable way possible.
However, Bad Cat’s runs were different. The luck they experienced was beyond what any other runner had seen. They managed to get optimal monster behavior in nearly every run, an anomaly that began to raise suspicions among other speedrunners. It wasn’t long before the truth began to unravel.
Unveiling the Cheat: Impossible Monster Behavior
The suspicions around Bad Cat’s runs came to a head when another speedrunner noticed something that simply shouldn’t have been possible. During one of Bad Cat’s record-breaking runs, a monster executed a move that no one had ever seen before, at least not in that particular context. This wasn’t just an unlikely occurrence—it was impossible based on the game’s mechanics.
Expert speedrunners and modders began to investigate, diving into the game’s files and code. What they found was damning: the specific action that the monster performed at that time couldn’t happen according to the game’s programming. This discovery confirmed what many had begun to suspect—Bad Cat was cheating by manipulating the game’s AI to produce favorable conditions for faster runs.
After being exposed, Bad Cat stopped uploading runs. In their final video, the title was notably different, openly admitting that the run was tool-assisted (TAS), a term used to describe speedruns where external tools or modifications are used to optimize performance.
The Broader Cheating Problem: A Community in Crisis
The revelation of Bad Cat’s cheating was just the tip of the iceberg. Over the following months, it became clear that the problem was far more widespread than initially thought. Other prominent speedrunners were also found to be using similar methods to manipulate monster behavior, leading to a wave of exposure that rocked the community.
One of the most well-known speedrunners implicated was DEVA, a celebrated figure in the Monster Hunter World community. DEVA was known for their incredibly lucky runs, particularly against the monster Alatreon. In one of DEVA’s most famous runs, Alatreon performed the “lightning rain” attack twice in a row—something that no other speedrunner had ever seen. When this was investigated, it was found that such behavior was literally impossible according to the game’s code. Confronted with this evidence, DEVA eventually admitted to modifying the game’s AI to achieve faster runs.
What was particularly troubling was DEVA’s defense of their actions. They claimed that modifying enemy behavior was not cheating because their runs were meant for content creation rather than competition. However, DEVA’s channel, where they boasted over 50 world records, never disclosed these modifications, leading viewers to believe the runs were legitimate.
The Impact on the Monster Hunter World Community
The exposure of Bad Cat, DEVA, and others revealed a dark side of the Monster Hunter World speedrunning community. The ease with which these players could manipulate the game on PC (the platform that opened the door for such cheating) led to a loss of trust within the community. For dedicated speedrunners who played the game legitimately, this was a devastating blow. The knowledge that many of the top records were achieved through cheating cast a shadow over the entire community.
In a game like Monster Hunter, where speedrunning relies heavily on both skill and luck, the ability to manipulate RNG through game modifications undermines the very spirit of the competition. Legitimate players are now left to wonder how many of the remaining records are real and how many are the result of similar cheats.
The Fallout: Where Does the Community Go From Here?
The cheating scandal has caused irreparable damage to the Monster Hunter World speedrunning community. Trust has been eroded, and the integrity of the records has been called into question. While speedrunners who love the game will continue to play and compete, they must now contend with the knowledge that others may be using underhanded methods to gain an advantage.
This situation also highlights the broader challenges of speedrunning in the modern era, particularly with the rise of PC gaming and the ease of access to modding tools. As games become more complex and the tools to manipulate them more sophisticated, the line between legitimate play and cheating becomes increasingly blurred.
For the Monster Hunter World community, rebuilding trust will be a long and difficult process. It will require greater transparency, perhaps more rigorous verification methods, and a renewed commitment to fair play. But for now, the shadow of this scandal looms large, a reminder of how easily the pursuit of records can be tainted by those unwilling to play by the rules.
Conclusion: A Cautionary Tale for the Speedrunning World
The cheating scandal in Monster Hunter World serves as a cautionary tale for the entire speedrunning community. It’s a reminder that the pursuit of records should be grounded in integrity and fair competition. As the tools to cheat become more accessible, communities must find new ways to safeguard the legitimacy of their records.
For Monster Hunter World, the damage has been done, but there is hope that the community can learn from this experience and come back stronger. The love for the game remains, and for those who truly value the challenge, the thrill of a legitimate run will always outweigh the temptation to cheat.
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