You're asking good questions but factor this in: a development team at a game company will only want to spend as little time as possible on this process: it doesn't make them more money - it costs it. Conversely a hacker / cheater is being paid (or gaining) directly from breaking this code. Which is more motivated? Now remember that the protection has to be in place first. Who has the advantage? Client side code will always be breakable. A rootkit doesn't change the game - it just adds a new vector to attack for other hackers to exploit.