As of last year, 2.2 billion1 people consider themselves gamers across the globe. Of that 2.2 billion, over 50% – 1.22 billion2 – play their game of choice on a PC. The sheer number of PC gamers throughout the world, however, has sparked the interest of cybercriminals and cyberthreats targeting gamers have spiked. Threats including malware, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), phishing, account takeovers (ATO), and more have slowly started to permeate gamers’ domains at an alarming level.
PC gamers often adopt lesser security protocols, as they’re concerned about the potential negative impact on in-game performance. At the same time, they are the most connected, online users, meaning their exposure to threats is generally higher. While they recognize and understand the importance of having cybersecurity, they do not want to sacrifice performance for security. The gamer’s dilemma – security versus performance – is the crux as to why gamers put security second, even though the average gamer has experienced almost five cyberattacks.
There’s good news though – McAfee Gamer Security is here to counter the notion that antivirus slows gamers down. This brand-new security solution from McAfee provides gamers with the security they need without sacrificing performance or creating in-game slowdowns, such as drops in frames per second (FPS) and lag. Built from the ground up, this solution delivers performance optimization by monitoring key system metrics coupled with the ability to manually kill resource hogs on-the-fly, while automatically prioritizing resources and pausing background services. McAfee Gamer Security also features cloud-based MicroAV, which offloads detection from the system to the cloud for all the protection gamers could want or need, without the “bloat” that usually accompanies security software.
While McAfee Gamer Security is now available for purchase, in spring 2019 McAfee surveyed users that participated in beta testing. Here’s how they responded to a few questions we asked:
Overall, what impact, if any, did you feel in your gaming experience?
“I believe I had [experienced] a positive impact of the software during my overall use of the program because it increased the speed of my game as well as gave me peace of mind that I…[stayed] protected during my gameplay.”
What one benefit would make you talk about McAfee Gamer Security to your friends? What is the primary reason for your choice?
“Good security which doesn’t slow down my system; Normally, antiviruses…hog background resources [and] you trade performance for security. McAfee Gamer Security offers the best of both worlds, without contradicting each other.”
Overall, how useful or not useful has Gamer Security been?
“Every couple [of] hours or so while gaming, I…used the software to check up on my RAM/GPU/CPU performance and make sure my system isn’t bottlenecking, there aren’t any irregularities, etc. I also really like that I can experience a boost in my gameplay without having to take the risk of overclocking my components.”
In addition to using a security solution like McAfee Gamer Security, here are some other general tips to help you stay secure while playing your favorite video game:
- Ensure all applications, hardware and software are up-to-date. Cybercriminals can take advantage of software, hardware, and application vulnerabilities to spread cyberthreats, such as malware. Keep your devices and applications updated with the latest security patches and fixes to help combat this threat.
- Periodically visit your device to add/remove programs. Some apps on your device may be vampirically siphoning in-game performance. Remove apps that you do not need or no longer use.
- Create strong, unique passwords. Over 55% of gamers re-use the same password across accounts for online gaming services. And while it might be easier to remember the same password, reusing credentials across multiple accounts could put the hundreds, or even thousands, of invested hours in leveling up characters and gathering rare items at risk in the event one account is breached. Be sure to construct a complex password that is difficult to guess.
And, as always, stay on top of the latest consumer and gaming security threats with @McAfee_Home on Twitter, listen to our podcast Hackable? and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.
Footnotes
- Number of active video gamers worldwide from 2014 to 2021 (in millions), Statista, 2019
- Number of active PC gamers worldwide from 2014 to 2021 (in millions), Statista, 2019
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