While it’s undeniable that Call of Duty: Warzone has a serious problem with cheaters, there are also some issues that are Infinity Ward’s own fault. At least, that’s what appeared to happen in a recent match where Battle Royale players in a Solo game continued respawning indefinitely in the game’s final circle. The resulting scenario turned the usually tense final minutes of the game into a comical bloodbath of Shipment proportions.
This isn’t the first time Warzone players have had to deal with game-ruining glitches. One of the most well-known is the ability to open the map during a kill cam, which results in being able to see the map from the perspective of the opposing team. This has multiple uses, such as being able to see the location of opposing team members, or, if that team has completed Recon missions, being able to see where future circles will close. Another infamous exploit allowed players to fly helicopters underneath the map and target enemy players while being out of harm’s way. A more recent glitch made players invincible during the pre-game lobby, where kills would usually grant players double experience. While some of these bugs have been addressed and fixed by Infinity Ward, others remain in the game to this day.
According to Redditor b6109, this particular glitch resulted in his Battle Royale solo game having no winner. This makes sense, as the deadly final circle eventually begins to close completely until the entire map is filled with poison gas. Although under normal circumstances there would be one player left standing, b6109’s video clearly shows that the circumstances were far too chaotic for that to happen. It is unclear as to what caused this glitch or whether it will be recurring, but the post’s comments do give some insight - and possible uses for the glitch.
The most popular explanation is that this is Infinity Ward’s method of punishing cheaters without actually deactivating their accounts - a practice known as “shadowbanning.” This would be in line with their other creative methods of shadowbanning, such as putting cheaters in lobbies comprised solely of other cheaters or leaving them searching for a game indefinitely with a ping of 350 or higher. This Although Infinity Ward did warn recently that more banwaves are coming, it should be noted - especially for the sake of u/6109’s reputation - that this is purely speculation and that there is no evidence that this is Infinity Ward’s latest shadowbanning practice.
Other Redditors thought of a creative use for the glitch: using it to lower their kill-death (K/D) ratios. The K/D ratio is a basic way of denoting a player’s skill level, but more importantly, it is used during skill-based matchmaking (which Infinity Ward refuses to acknowledge is in the game despite data tested by players) to determine which lobbies players are entered into. As the game suffers from a significant number of cheaters, players are now looking for ways to lower their K/D ratios in an attempt to no longer be placed in lobbies filled with hackers. After all, hackers often have absurdly high K/D ratios, and barring Infinity Ward’s best attempts to identify and ban them, simply avoiding cheaters seems to be many players’ chosen alternative, along with creating new accounts altogether.
Ultimately, this is likely just another glitch in the game that will hopefully be fixed when Season 5 goes live on August 5th. Until then, players have one more week to complete the Season 4 Battle Pass and gain some last minute rewards.
Source: b6109