Guilty Gear Strive producer releases statement on game's network issues, says cause has been identified and it's likely not hackers

Guilty Gear Strive, Arc System Works’ premier fighting game, has seen serious online network issues in recent times that have yet to be resolved. Fans have been waiting for more details on when they can expect a fix, and early this morning the company released another statement regarding the current status of the matter.

The official Guilty Gear PR Twitter account released a statement from producer Ken Miyauchi that details where things are at. Outside of profusely apologizing for the situation, Miyauchi notes that their team seems to have identified the cause of a large portion of the issues, and surprisingly, says that it is highly likely the issues aren’t being caused by hackers.

The general gist of Strive’s online issues boils down to hackers making life difficult for players. Though the game saw connection issues as early as when it launched back on June 11, 2021, those have been mostly ironed out.

In recent months, however, numerous reports came forth that showed that hackers have found ways of messing with other players’ experiences. These ways include crashing games, making matches run so slowly that they become unplayable, and even impersonating them and sending messages to others.

The most recent crossplay update to add Xbox to the landscape also introduced worse server and connection issues that has made it difficult to join matches without requiring players jump through extra hoops.

“To all Guilty Gear -Strive- players: We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the ongoing issues with network mode,” the official Guilty Gear Twitter accounted tweeted. “We have an announcement from the producer regarding the current situation and our direction going forward.”

The most interesting part of ArcSys’ latest statement is the fact that the development team says they don’t believe hackers are the main cause of these issues. After stating that they have “currently identified the cause of a large impact on the issues with the network mode” and that they have received numerous reports about hackers being the culprits, the company said “from our current investigation, we have determined there is a high likelihood of an unrelated, not human-induced cause behind these problems.”

In the statement, ArcSys also notes that though they haven’t found the “exact method” for a fix, they are currently working on a patch to address the issues. Release information for said patch will be divulged once the update is finalized and ready.

You can read Arc System Works’ full statement below.

“Notice Regarding Ongoing Network Mode Issues

Thank you for your continued interest in Guilty Gear -Strive-.

This is Ken Miyauchi, producer of Guilty Gear -Strive-.

First, we would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the network issues that have been affecting the game. Our team has made it our top priority to identify the cause of the issues and will continue doing our best to resolve them.

Regarding the current situation:

We have currently identified the cause of a large impact on the issues with the network mode and are actively working together with related parties on improvements to address the problem.

We have received many inquiries regarding certain network problems believed to be caused by malicious hacking. However, from our current investigation, we have determined there is a high likelihood of an unrelated, not human-induced cause behind these problems. We are currently carefully investigating the situation.

Our direction going forward:

Although the exact method is yet to be determined, we are currently working on a patch to address issues caused by the connection processing and to improve certain connection processes. The release timing will be announced once the patch is ready. We appreciate your continued patience.

For more information on any present or future developments, please refer to the Guilty Gear official Twitter account, as well as the official Guilty Gear -Strive- homepage.

Finally, we sincerely apologize for any obscurity in our communication and for the delay regarding our company’s ongoing efforts to address these recent issues with the game and improve online network stability and security. In addition, any and all feedback regarding these and other issues, as well as opinions or requests for improving our games, are always welcome and appreciated.

Your continued patronage is very important to us, and we will do everything in our power to further enhance your Guilty Gear -Strive- gaming experience.

We thank all users for your support and understanding.”

To all Guilty Gear -Strive- players:
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the ongoing issues with network mode.

We have an announcement from the producer regarding the current situation and our direction going forward. pic.twitter.com/MfpNE1dLqx

— GUILTY GEAR OFFICIAL (@GUILTYGEAR_PR) April 14, 2023