exploit
/ˈɛksplɔɪt/
Very CommonA glitch, mechanic gap, or unintended behavior in a game that players deliberately use to gain an advantage.
Whether using an exploit is cheating or clever play is genuinely contested. Speedrunners celebrate exploits. PvP communities often hate them.
Real-world examples5 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | found an exploit that skips the entire second act. speedrun record dropping soon | An unintended skip was discovered that will be used in competitive speedruns. | x, 2024 |
| 02 | getting killed by the same exploit in ranked for the 5th time. fix this | An unpatched bug is consistently ruining ranked matches. | reddit, 2023 |
| 03 | it's only an exploit if they patch it. until then it's just tech | Unintended mechanics are fair game until officially removed. | reddit, 2024 |
| 04 | the devs knew about this exploit for 6 months and said nothing. it's in the game | The developer's silence on a known bug is being read as tacit approval. | x, 2023 |
| 05 | exploit got patched. RIP to the whole speedrunning community for that category | A key technique used in speedruns was removed by a patch. | reddit, 2024 |
Use it when
- A player is using an unintended game mechanic to gain an advantage.
- Discussing a known bug that players have turned into a technique.
- Speedrunning discussions about tech that skips or breaks intended sequences.
- Describing behavior in PvP that others consider unfair.
Do not use it when
- A bug that hurts the player and they did not choose to trigger it.Use “game-breaking-bug” instead.
- External hacks, aimbots, or third-party software.Use “cheating” instead.
Variations and related forms
Exploit vs game-breaking bug
exploit
An exploit is used intentionally by players to gain an advantage.
VS
game-breaking-bug
A game-breaking bug hurts the player and makes the game unplayable.
Origin and context
Borrowed from computer security terminology where an exploit is code that takes advantage of a vulnerability. Gaming communities adopted the term in the early 2000s, separating it from cheating in the context of bugs used skillfully rather than external hacks.
- First seen
- early-2000s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/exploitUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0