As noted by our sister site TouchArcade, Apple today announced that game developers now have the ability to view and edit the top 100 positions in Game Center leaderboard listings for their games, giving them the power to delete fake scores from the list.
You can now view and manage the top 100 scores and usernames for all of your Game Center leaderboards. Protect your legitimate players by signing in to iTunes Connect to delete fake scores or block players that post fake scores. You can also restore scores and players within the same time period.
A number of high-profile games have seen fake Game Center scores clogging up the very top of their global leaderboards, and Apple’s new feature should go a long way to assist developers with cleaning up their leaderboards. The feature will also give legitimate users shooting for the top of the lists more recognition for their efforts, should developers of their games choose to take an active role in monitoring for fake scores.
Apple notes in its developer documentation that developers can view the top 100 scores for various leaderboards, delete and restore scores from the lists, block players from posting scores to a leaderboard, and restore blocked players with their most recent scores prior to being blocked.
One issue with the new feature is that scores are maintained for review for only 30 days, meaning that scores need to have been added within that window in order to be available for removal. Likewise, removed scores and blocked users can only be restored within that same window.
It is currently unclear if Apple has any plans for or is open to the possibility of offering developers a one-time sweep to help clear out fake scores that have accumulated since the launch of Game Center three years ago, but at the very least developers can clean up any new fake scores being posted to their leaderboards if they remain vigilant.
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