There is an attack that some people have dubbed "lag hacking", and it’s gaining popularity in multiplayer games. There are at-least two ways of creating artificial latency. One method of introducing artificial latency is using a lag switch, where the user intentionally disconnects their network cable. Another method is [Edit - CM] so that a player can gain an unfair advantage. Artificial latency attacks affect a large number of multiplayer games.
i have reported 2 players in the past 3 days.
Lag switches would only work in a peer-to-peer environment. EA servers host all of the public lobbies so a lag switch wouldn't do anything unless you were playing in a private lobby.
Similarly, given how aggressive Javelin Anti-cheat is in terms of blocking background applications, I would imagine it has some kind of "authoritative architecture" that would block/ ignore a packet flood.
I'm not saying that no one has ever cheated, because obviously they have, but I think it's a small minority of people who try, and those that do generally get shutdown in short order.
Subject: Suspected cheating or network desynchronization in F1 25 Ranked Multiplayer (PS5)
Hello EA Support and Community,
I would like to report a suspicious incident during a competitive multiplayer race in F1 25 on PS5. I have recordings from both my own perspective and the other player's perspective, including the final lap and finish.
WHAT HAPPENED
The player [CM edit - removed]had a red cross displayed next to their name and remained ghosted for much of the race.
During the first sector of each lap, I was consistently able to overtake this player and build a significant lead. However, near the end of each lap, the player appeared to suddenly reappear ahead of me, just before the finish line.
On the final lap, I had approximately an eight-second lead. In the recording from the other player's perspective, their car appeared to behave like an AI-controlled car. Approximately two seconds before I crossed the finish line, the view suddenly jumped to a position close to the finish line, and the player won the race.
I cannot determine whether this was caused by network desynchronization, a game exploit, or deliberate manipulation. However, the repeated pattern and the final result seemed highly unusual.
PLAYER AND RACE DETAILS
My PSN ID / gamertag: Rob_ust
Other player's gamertag: <removed>
Date: Friday, 23 October 2026
Approximate time: 00:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Platform: PlayStation 5
VIDEO EVIDENCE
Video 1 - My perspective:
<removed>
Video 2 - Other player's perspective during the race:
<removed>
Video 3 - Other player's final lap and finish:
<removed>
The videos are set to Unlisted, so they can only be viewed by people who have the links.
Could EA please review this incident and determine whether it was a network issue, an exploit, or a violation of the game's rules?
Thank you for your time and assistance.
[CM edit - removed video links and player gamertag for Naming and Shaming]
