Battlefield 1 studio EA DICE today warned online cheaters that it’s stepping up vigilance against players who use software tricks to gain unfair advantages.

In a blog post titled “Keeping the Fight Fair,” the developer stated that it sanctioned 8,500 cheaters in the month of October, and is continuing its efforts to root out third-party assist software through its FairFight initiative. “We’ve steadily ramped up our anti-cheat efforts, working closely with the FairFight team to detect and remove more cheaters than ever before,” DICE said.

DICE also addressed claims, often posted on social media, that highly skilled players have been banned unfairly. “We are confident that our detection methods produce accurate results,” the studio said. “Cheat developers may be attempting to manipulate players’ minds about anti-cheat tools, and to leverage detection information from game developers.”

According to DICE, skilled players are not being caught in the net. “A common misconception regarding FairFight is that higher skilled players are more likely to get sanctioned due to their improved match stats. This is not correct; it is not possible to be banned simply for being skilled.”

DICE says it will streamline how it communicates its efforts to ban cheaters, in order to avoid spamming player accounts. The blog post also offers useful advice on how to protect player accounts .

Battlefield 1 is a popular multiplayer shooter set in World War I. You can read our review of the game here.