Call of Duty: Warzone, the latest entry in the popular first-person shooter franchise, was released on March 10, 2020. The game represents Call of Duty’s foray into the “battle royale” genre, allowing up to 150 players to compete against each other in online play. Although it was announced as part of the 2019 main series installment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, it does not require players to have purchased Modern Warfare in order to participate.
However, less than a month after Warzone’s initial release, developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision announced that they have had to permanently ban over 50,000 players due to cheating.
“There’s no place for cheating in games. Warzone has zero-tolerance for cheaters,” explained a statement released on the official Call of Duty Web site.
The statement also outlined in detail the actions which Infinity Ward is taking in order to identify and remove cheaters from their game. The multi-step process was stated to include 24/7 monitoring by the developer’s security team and improvements to the in-game system used to report cheating.
An update intended to streamline the UI used in the reporting system, so that reporting cheaters become even quicker and easier than before, is planned for the near future. However, an official release date for this update was not announced.
Two types of illegal gameplay were specifically mentioned by Infinity Ward in their statement: “aimbots” and “wallhacks.” “Aimbots” refers to players who use programs in order to pull off impossible shots, in particular, shooting around corners in order to kill enemies unawares. “Wallhacks,” on the other hand, allow cheaters to shoot through the otherwise solid walls of the game’s arena.
The statement concluded with a positive message from the developer: “Rest assured, we’re committed to ensuring a fun and fair experience for everyone.” They will continue to investigate alleged cheating and swiftly ban all cheaters in the future.