Cheaters Are Rampant in Warzone Despite Ban Waves

It's a tale as old as time; Game Developers versus Cheaters. To expect a perfect experience is futile, no game is safe from players looking to ruin the fun for others. But at what point does Raven Software admit defeat and impactfully increase its anti-cheat efforts?

Despite the overwhelming opposing opinions of the community, we'll be the first to make it clear that Raven Software is in fact fighting the never-ending battle against cheaters. From ban waves which result in tens of thousands of player accounts being banned to increased prevention methods which may or may not overstep boundaries, the effort is there - but it isn't working.

As the Summer rolls around for 2021 and the month of July began, a new variant of cheating quickly became prominent within the Warzone community. Players, especially Streamers and Content Creators, were having their accounts modified to allow access to previously locked content. While this may seem harmless on the surface, it's a perfect demonstration of the reach that cheaters have and begs the question of how much farther can it go?

Cheaters Target Streamers

The most publicized example of the aforementioned cheat is when popular Warzone Streamer Nickmercs was subjected to this Unlock All cheat during a livestream. To both the Streamer's shock and disapproval, previously unobtained content such as a level 1,000 rank, mastery weapon camos, and more were at his disposal. Simply by being randomly placed into a lobby with a Cheater, Nickmercs had his account irreversibly modified.

The Cheater responsible for this attack is unknown, but the important point to note is that the attacker had no access to Nickmercs' PC or Activision Account. You wouldn't be wrong to expect this to be an impossible accomplishment, yet, it happened.

For high-profile individuals such as Nickmercs, this is nothing more than a noteworthy segment in his content schedule. But for the casual player with no social reach or contacts within Activision or Raven Software, the status of their account is a major concern. Could one be banned for obtaining an Unlock All cheat without their consent?

Ban Wave Issued

In the days following the Nickmercs situation, unverifiable reports surfaced which claimed that the method used in the aforementioned cheat was quickly patched. Although this cannot be confirmed, it's worth noting that another high-profile target has yet to occur.

Raven Software did not acknowledge the situation directly, however, a semi-regular Ban Wave was issued which claims to have terminated over 50,000 player accounts. Despite the brief mention of "much more" being a target of this Ban Wave, the Studio did not provide an update on any further preventative measures.

In February, Activision issued a blog post which addressed player concerns regarding cheating. It's here that a loose description of current and future anti-cheat measures were provided, but no groundbreaking statements were made. Despite the ongoing efforts of the Publisher, players continue to report numerous encounters with cheaters ranging from aimbots to god mode.

Activision Bans 60,000 Warzone Cheaters, Promises Anti-Cheat Improvements

Security improvements intended to stop cheaters are coming to Warzone, Black Ops Cold War, and Modern Warfare.

Ethan CCOD Warzone Tracker

This leaves us with just one question...

What's next?

Stay tuned to @CODTracker on Twitter for full Call of Duty coverage, including the latest Warzone news.

If you're new to Call of Duty Tracker, you should know that we also offer free services such as player statistics, leaderboards, and a cosmetics database. Consider checking us out and let us know on Twitter what you'd like to see next!