The best ‘Guitar Hero’ player in the world was actually cheating

Despite years of being known as the best Guitar Hero player in the world, a player going by the username Schmooey has been exposed as a cheat for many of his videos.

As reported by Kotaku, it’s been discovered that Schmooey was using cheats to create many of his record-setting Guitar Hero videos.

This includes videos where fans set “bounties” on certain songs, which Schmooey would complete in return for payment. As well as vanilla song tracks, Schmooey would also play songs at double – and sometimes even triple – the original speed.

However, as YouTuber Karl Jobst outlines, suspicion began to arise in December 2021 when a fan noticed that not all of the notes Schmooey was hitting lined up with the notes in the game.

Following a more in-depth investigation, Schmooey has admitted to cheating and shared an apology on YouTube. Schmooey, who has now deleted all of his videos, admitted that he is a “fraud” and said most of his content was “inauthentic”.

Schmooey also added that he has “paid everyone their bounties back”.

On TwitLonger, Schmooey also outlined the process behind his cheating – which included using video editing to speed up his videos and an in-game cheat engine.

Schmooey also shared a spreadsheet that details which of his accomplishments were legitimate, however he admits that “I’m well aware that legit accomplishments with no proof will be held in the same regard as fake ones.”

Although all of Schmooey’s recordings have been deleted, he says that eventually he will share OBS recordings of his legitimate achievements. That being said, Schmooey’s statement claims “this will be all that you’ll hear from me for a long time”.

:story: NME