War. War never changes. If you cheat, you’re going to get banned. Call of Duty: Warzone is thriving with 30 million players blowing each other to smithereens with various assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, and all sorts of nasty armaments. Despite all that weaponry, the most powerful weapon in Call of Duty is, and always will be, the banhammer.
Infinity Ward proved as much recently, as they’ve banned 50,000 cheaters since Warzone launched earlier this month. They’re not even close to finished, either. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Unless you don’t cheat, then good for you!
The developer wants it made abundantly clear that they’re not tolerating cheating in any way, shape, or form. They’re so intolerant of it, in fact, that their security team is working around the clock – they’re actually working in shifts, 24/7, it’s not just a phrase – to hunt down cheaters and dole out punishments.
So not only is it getting easier to detect and report cheaters, but the developer is going to keep a public running tally of banned members, like how Batman villain Victor Zsasz carves a tally mark into his skin for every life he takes. Infinity Ward is scary now.
It’s a great thing, though, to have a developer remain so vigilant to keep the playing field level and fair. Playing multiplayer games online can be intense, especially games with such a rabid following as Call of Duty has. With over 30 million players, everyone already has their work cut out for them. They don’t need dirty cheaters making things even more difficult.
Speaking of 30 million players, that’s a lot of players, so many that carving out 50,000 of them isn’t going to do a dang thing to Call of Duty’s player base. It also goes to show just how many players aren’t cheating, which is encouraging. Most people are just out to have a good time, even the crazy ones that throw their controllers across the room when their K/D ratio takes a turn they don’t like. They’re passionate, they’re not cheaters.
It will be interesting to see whether or not the number of bans tapers off or not. Obviously Infinity Ward didn’t somehow catch every cheater in the world, but one could argue that those dedicated enough to cheating in Warzone were probably day-one players. Bans will definitely trickle in, but I can’t imagine seeing another huge mass-ban like this, at least not for a long while and after some big updates.
