The cheating problem in Call of Duty: Warzone has been getting talked about more and more in recent months, and for good reason. While Raven Software may be hitting massive milestones for banned accounts, players are still facing off with cheaters regularly. While ban waves make things better for a few days, it does not last, as gamers are stuck facing off with cheaters until another wave of bans goes through. Unfortunately, it seems like this cycle is going to continue.
After so many months of issues, cheating is engraved in the Call of Duty: Warzone ecosystem. Hackers will always find new ways to get an advantage, with the newfound silent aim being a prime example of this. The same can be said for exploiters, as out-of-map exploits and returning bugs like the stim glitch are likely to keep being used. With larger issues at play as well, such as the effectiveness of bans themselves, it seems likely that players will always be dealing with cheating in the free-to-play game.
The Discovery Of New Cheats And Exploits In Call of Duty: Warzone
One thing that makes combatting Call of Duty: Warzone’s cheating incredibly hard is how quickly the community discovers new glitches and hacks. Whenever Raven fixes an out-of-map exploit, a new one is seemingly discovered right after. Old spots return, too, with the same being said for other exploits as well. The stim glitch is a prime example of this, as it returned on a half-dozen different occasions. The invisibility glitch has been seen many times, too, with players finding new ways to make themselves transparent.
While this cheating has led to drastic measures being taken, like Call of Duty: Warzone’s attack helicopter being removed twice and the Armored Royale playlist being permanently taken away, it has not deterred cheaters. Players are continuing to find fresh ways to give themselves small and large advantages alike, with new god mode glitches being discovered regularly. Unfortunately, Call of Duty: Warzone has built a reputation of being an easy game to cheat in, and many seem to feel no shame about doing it.
Alongside these exploits, hacking has seemingly gotten worse as well. While aimbot and wallhacks are still the most common, Call of Duty: Warzone’s silent aim hacks are quickly on the rise. A more advanced aimbot that sees players not even needing to aim down sights, a cheater’s gun will lock onto targets through surfaces and shots fired will be completely accurate. Not only do more severe cheats make the cheating problem worse, but it is harder for Raven to detect, as its anti-cheat software is likely aimed at known problems instead. With hacks and exploits evolving along with the game, it is only going to get harder for Raven to keep up.
The Downside Of Call of Duty: Warzone’s Cross-Play
Like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Warzone is cross-play. The benefits to this system are obvious, as it removes platform restrictions and lets players on any gaming system play with one another. Those on PC can play with those on console, and Xbox users can party up with PlayStation owners. As a result, the community is more connected, with a large player base leading to faster matches and a single version of the game. However, not enough gamers have discussed the biggest downside with cross-play.
While many have pointed to PC having an unfair advantage over console players due to the existence of a Call of Duty: Warzone FOV slider, the other big downside is how easily the platform can introduce hacks to the console community. While Call of Duty: Warzone’s hacking issues would be bad if they were limited to PC, the game’s cross-play status allows them to easily be imported over to consoles. This allows hacks to spread at a faster rate, and to systems that normally would be far better at protecting against cheaters.
While old Call of Duty games like the original Modern Warfare 2 and first Black Ops have been completely hacked, this took years to accomplish. In Call of Duty: Warzone, though, the hacking problem became troublesome just a few months after the game released. The addition of cross-play was a Pandora’s Box for Call of Duty: Warzone, and it is now too late to close it. The hacks are in the wild, with consoles player bases infected alongside the PC community. Further, if it were to be taken away, many gamers would be bothered by losing the ability to play with their friends on other platforms. This puts Raven in a tough situation when it comes to cross-play, and it seems unlikely that it will ever go away.
Why Call of Duty: Warzone’s Ban Waves Are Not Enough
While cheaters are constantly finding new ways to ruin the game, and cross-play has allowed hacks to spread from PC to console, the biggest issue is Call of Duty: Warzone’s ban waves. While the consistent removals of 30,000 accounts looks good on paper, the reality is that it is doing little to actually fix the problem. The hacks are still easily accessible online, and exploits are still bleeding through despite patches. Most importantly, the bans themselves are completely ineffective.
If a Call of Duty: Warzone cheater is determined enough to buy hacks for the game, removing their account is hardly enough to stop them. As many have pointed out, cheaters are able to make more accounts with no restrictions whatsoever, using the same exact hacks under a new name. This is the main reason why ban waves only offer brief moments of cheat-free gameplay, as the hackers simply start from scratch with fresh Activision IDs. With cheaters even making their own Call of Duty: Warzone skins, there is no real downside to losing an account.
With ban waves even catching innocent players in the crossfire according to FaZe co-owner NICKMERCS, something needs to change about Raven and Activision’s response to the problem. Gamers have suggested completely banning IP addresses or shutting down cross-play, both of which could make a big difference for the health of the game. If the only plan is to keep banning accounts that can simply be remade, though, Call of Duty: Warzone’s issues with cheating will likely persist throughout the game’s entire life span. As unfortunate as it may be, the game is no closer to being cheater-free than it was before the ban waves began. As such, fans may want to lower their expectations if they are hoping the cheating will come to an end anytime soon.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.