Call of Duty: Warzone has banned over 60,000 "confirmed" cheaters who were using popular hack software. Competitive multiplayer games, especially popular ones, are no strangers to cheating: most modern multiplayer titles come with built-in anti-cheat software that punishes players who attempt to circumvent the game's protections. Games that become flooded with users quickly also become flooded with cheaters, as evidenced by Fall Guys' statement last year that the game is borrowing Fortnite's anti-cheat software. Among Us, another extremely popular multiplayer game with a hacking problem, allows players to kick or ban those who appear to be cheating. Some players, fed up with cheaters, have even taken steps of their own to prevent hacking: a CS:GO program that claims to help players cheat actually sabotages their own game once they get into a match. As long as there are multiplayer games, there will be cheaters.
Warzone appears to be having more problems than most multiplayer FPSes. Popular YouTuber Vikkstar announced yesterday that he was quitting Warzone over the amount of hackers in the game, particularly those who stream their hacks on Twitch and Facebook and still get away with cheating. This comes after FaZe Clan member and streamer NickMercs announced that he would not be participating in Warzone tournaments anymore, stating that "authentic Warzone tournaments just aren't possible anymore." Activision has reportedly already banned over 70,000 accounts since the game was released, but high-profile players say that's still not enough to stop the problem.
The day after Vikkstar made his announcement, Activision issued a blog post stating that it has banned another 60,000 accounts that have used "confirmed" cheat software. The blog post goes on to list the measures that Activision is taking in keeping the game hack-free, including adding two-factor authentication and releasing weekly security updates. The article doesn't name the software that players used to cheat, but a source speaking to Vice said that many of the banned accounts used the software EngineOwning. For a monthly fee, this software gives players access to cheats and hacks in Warzone, Battlefield, Titanfall, and Star Wars. Though Activision is doing its best to counter hackers, EngineOwning is reportedly "updating" its Warzone hacks to get around the game's most recent updates.
EngineOwning isn't the only software that's giving legitimate Warzone players trouble. Warzone Companion, an app that was supposed to help players spot cheaters, has instead allowed players to cheat more. The app highlighted suspicious kill/death ratios and other stats prior to matches, giving players an idea as to whether they'd been matched with a hacker. Though it has an ostensibly good purpose, players began using the app to stream snipe and leave matchmaking lobbies earlier than intended if they think that their match contains extremely skilled players. Warzone Companion's developer, Dmitry Shmyko, has said that he is making changes to the app to prevent these unintended uses.
There is no doubt that cheating takes the fun out of games. Though it's impossible to ban every single cheater, and people like the developers of EngineOwning will always be looking for a way to exploit the rules, players are right to stand up for what they see as the destruction of their community. It shouldn't take a YouTuber with 7 million subscribers and a massive reach to prompt a response from Activision, but at least the company is taking a renewed public stand against cheaters. Whether the measures work, and whether players like Vikkstar and NickMercs come back to Warzone, remains to be seen.
Source: Activision / Engadget