Cheating players in Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare will soon face a ban, as announced by game developer, Infinity Ward.
Call of Duty Faces Cheating Crisis Ahead of Esports Debut
In the world of competitive gaming, the integrity of a game is paramount. This is especially true for Call of Duty, as the latest installments of the franchise are making a push towards becoming a fully-fledged esports title. However, the game has been plagued by unchecked cheating for months, leading to concerns about its future.
In a bid to address this issue, Infinity Ward has taken several steps. The company has released a statement on Twitter, warning that more players will be banned for unauthorized manipulation of game data, specifically wallhacks, aimbots, and stat hacks.
The warning is aimed at addressing cheating, a problem that has been highlighted by several high-profile streamers, including Jack "CouRage" Dunlop and NICKMERCS, who have been posting excerpts from their games with commentary, explaining in-depth why and how a person had cheated in Warzone and Modern Warfare.
Infinity Ward is also actively combating cheating by enhancing their anti-cheat systems and introducing new security features. The core measure is the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat system, which is continually evolving and recently received updates in Season 05 to improve detection and prevention of cheating across both Multiplayer and Warzone. These updates include a phased rollout of two hardware-based Windows security features: TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) and Secure Boot. TPM 2.0 helps prevent tampered PCs from connecting to the game, while Secure Boot ensures only trusted software loads at startup, creating a more secure foundation to block cheats.
Other measures include shadow banning, boosted detection and removal of boosting/teaming activity, ongoing legal action against cheat providers, and continuous monitoring of player conduct and leaderboards.
Despite these efforts, cheating remains a significant challenge due to cheaters frequently rotating accounts and exploiting system weaknesses. Infinity Ward emphasizes that anti-cheat enforcement is a priority, and they continue to refine and deploy additional protections ahead of future game releases.
The cheating issues in Call of Duty's latest games could potentially lead to a significant loss of players and revenue, as alternative games such as Hyper Scape and Valorant are readily available and arguably better moderated and protected. This could potentially lead to a shift in the gaming community away from the franchise, towards other shooter games that are perceived as more fair and secure.
Moreover, a single slot in the Call of Duty esports league costs $25 million. If interest in the game dies down because of cheating, investors may feel displeased. This could impact the success of the game as an esports title.
Infinity Ward encourages players to play by the rules to maintain a fair gaming environment. They are urging players to use only the game software to avoid consequences and to avoid falling for third-party services offering to boost player gameplay via fraudulent modifications.
With a new installment in the game just around the corner, the prevalence of cheating in the current games could impact the success of the upcoming release. Infinity Ward is determined to address this issue and ensure the integrity of the current games to secure a bright future for Call of Duty as an esports title.
- To maintain the integrity of Call of Duty as a potential esports title, Infinity Ward is taking steps to combat cheating, such as improving their anti-cheat systems, introducing new security features, and banning players using unauthorized manipulations like wallhacks, aimbots, and stat hacks.
- As cheating remains a significant challenge in Call of Duty, the franchise could experience a loss of players and revenue, especially with alternative games like Hyper Scape and Valorant being perceived as more fairly moderated and protected. This could potentially affect investors' interest in the Call of Duty esports league, which has a slot costing $25 million.
