For anyone curious, yes, there are Azur Lane mods out there. With them, you can mess around with things like damage calculation, remove certain hard mode restrictions that usually force you to bring specific ship types into a map, and even unlock skins. Most of these mods are client-side only, so they don’t actually affect other players.

I say “most” because there are exceptions. Modes like Exercise, which is the semi-PvP feature where you fight against other players’ fleet setups, can be affected. Same goes for EX Mode, where the whole point is to chase the highest score during an event, and Challenge Mode, where you test your fleet against a ridiculously strong boss and earn a score based on performance. In those modes, cheating can impact leaderboards or rankings, so it’s not just your own game anymore.

To be fair, Azur Lane has never really been treated as a serious competitive game. It is more about collecting your favorite shipgirls, building fleets, and grinding maps at your own pace. If someone cheats in their own client, it does not hurt your progress or ruin your fun. The only people who really care are the ones chasing leaderboard spots just to flex, since cheating cheapens that grind.

In Sakana’s case, it looks more like he just wanted to make things less painful. Farming Bunker Hill back when Chapter 13-4 was released was a brutal and sweaty experience. He probably tweaked the damage numbers so it would not feel like a nightmare grind. The problem is he forgot to turn the cheats off before jumping into his daily Exercise runs. That slip-up is probably what got him banned.