外挂

What does 外挂 mean?

外挂 (挂 for short) is any third-party program that hangs onto a game from the outside: aimbots, wallhacks, auto-scripts, speed hacks. The verb 开挂 means “to run cheats” — and by extension, “开挂了?!” (“did he turn on hacks?!”) is what teammates shout when someone lands an inhuman play, half-accusation, half-compliment. Legit god-tier players get the joke label 人形外挂 (“human cheat”). Chinese players use the loanword on international servers too: typing “gua” or “开挂” in a lobby full of foreigners gets the point across.

Where does 外挂 come from?

外挂 took shape in the early 2000s around Legend of Mir 2 (传奇, 2001–2003) and Counter-Strike 1.x “辅助程序” (helper programs) that auto-looted, auto-aimed or revealed walls — literally “hung” outside the official client. Public outcry and a 2003 government notice on “外挂” management pushed publishers into the anti-cheat arms race that continues today with kernel-level guards. The word stuck as the generic Chinese term for game cheats of every flavor.

How to use 外挂

• 这哥们是挂吧，枪枪爆头。
  Zhè gēmen shì guà ba, qiāngqiāng bàotóu.
  This guy’s cheating, right? Every single shot is a headshot.
• 别开挂，绿色游戏。
  Bié kāiguà, lǜsè yóuxì.
  Don’t cheat — keep the game clean.