Probably the most infamous case of cheating in online games is MissQGemini’s CS:GO wallhacks, live on stream. This moment has been cemented as the go-to example of cheating, but where is MissQGemini now? Here’s everything we know.
Cheating in multiplayer games will always be a problem, as long as cheat makers seek to profit from dishonorable players’ desire to beat down opponents using wallhacks, aimbots, or other means of creating an unfair advantage.
While developers will take steps to implement anti-cheating rules and ban players found to be cheating, it’s almost impossible to eradicate entirely. But, the most brazen of cheaters will even broadcast their gameplay through livestreaming – providing the opportunity to be caught red-handed.
The poster child of this exact scenario is MissQGemini, real name Haley Germaine, a streamer who was blatantly hacking while playing competitive CS:GO on Twitch, and spawned the now well-known ‘Clara’ meme.
What does ‘Clara’ mean?
In June 2017, MissQGemini was streaming a CS:GO match on Inferno. Just before the first round begins, she opens up her hacking software, and enables a pre-made cheating profile, turning on wallhacks.
Continuing to play without realizing that her stream viewers could clearly see the cheats on her screen, it suddenly dawned on her as the chat pointed it out, and immediately panics. In the hopes of talking her way out of it, she references a strange glitch that “shows everyone’s ranks”.
This is where ‘Clara’ was born. We still have no idea if Clara is even a real person, but according to MissQGemini, her friend had been playing on her PC and downloaded the cheats. “This is what happens when you let people use your PC. Can’t trust them.”
Since this moment, Clara has now become a meme of sorts in the gaming community. Whenever a player is accused of cheating or appears to show themselves cheating, people will joke that Clara is responsible.
Of course, Clara is potentially not even a real person.
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What happened to MissQGemini?
Unsurprisingly, MissQGemini’s Steam account was VAC banned for cheating. It’s also reported that she was banned from Twitch but only for 24 hours, and then renamed her account to ‘TheDjinnn’.
Since the scandal, MissQGemini has effectively quit streaming altogether and has very little presence online.
She does still have a YouTube channel, named ‘Thawty‘, although has posted only a few videos, playing Rainbow Six Siege, and has less than 100 subscribers at the time of writing. Her last upload was in 2019.
The legacy of Clara and cheating
This is far from the only scenario of streamers accidentally outing themselves as cheaters. With the rapid rise of cheating in Warzone, for example, many streamers have been accused and confirmed as hacking, often with their own broadcasts exposing them.
In March 2022, a Warzone streamer deliberately set up a ‘monitor cam’ to dispel cheating accusations – only for the camera to clearly show wallhacks in use. Perhaps Clara was up to her tricks again?
Countless streamers have reacted to the infamous Clara clips too, with complications of the most embarrassing cheating moments caught on stream.
Twitch now has severe punishments in place for streamers who cheat in multiplayer games, often resulting in a permanent ban even for a first-time violation.
Other forms of cheating, such as stream sniping, are also bannable but are often treated with more leniency than wallhacks or aim bots.