In order to tackle the rampant cheating that has been plaguing the popular first-person shootersCall of Duty: Modern WarfareandCall of Duty: Warzone, publisher Activision has been handing out numerous bans. Earlier this week though,many players who claimed to be innocent found their accounts lockedtoo, much to their dismay. However, Activision and developer Infinity Ward now appear to be reviewing the bans and correcting their mistakes, with a number of the recently banned accounts being reinstated.
The issue of cheating has grown since the free-to-play, battle royale focusedCall of Duty: Warzonelaunched, with Activision and Infinity Ward initially appearing to be losing the fight against the problem. Since April though, measures have been significantly tightened. Security updates, extra resources put into spotting cheats, and a two-factor authentication system for newCall of Duty: Warzoneaccounts from PCs, have all helped the situation to gradually improve, although it is by no means resolved.
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AsCall of Dutycheaters have been found and banned in increasing numbersthough, many regular players have complained that they have been punished unfairly, and have been asking Activision to review their bans. Even though Activision’s policy on bans is strict, not being open for dispute or reversal, it appears it has realized innocent players are caught-up, and are at least reviewing some of the cases. It is not clear what the criteria is for reviewing or unlocking the accounts, though it can be presumed that reviewed players found not to have cheated, nor made ban-worthy racist or hateful statements, will be reinstated.
Being banned from a game likeCall of Duty: Modern Warfareis a huge deal for innocent players, who may havespent a long time developing their skills, or have splashed out considerably for in-game assets and passes. Similarly, game streamers who play the titles will be left with reduced ways to bring in views, and therefore income. Finding the balance between banning too many innocent people, versus not banning enough cheaters, is extremely difficult, and requires careful consideration from publishers and developers.
Call of Duty: Modern WarfareandCall of Duty: Warzoneare by no means the only multiplayer games to suffer from rampant cheating, with popular titles such asCounter Strike (CS:GO)andDota 2coming up regularly in discussions about the problem. Indeed, a few players are so fed up at their gaming experience being ruined by cheaters, they have started to consider ways to tackle cheaters themselves, leading tohilarious compilation videos of cheaters being trolled by fake mods.
For most,the occasional, temporary ban of someone innocent feelslike an acceptable price to pay to tackle the massive problem of cheating, providing that developers and publishers follow Activision’s apparent lead, reviewing and reinstating them as soon as possible.
Call of Duty: Modern WarfareandCall of Duty: Warzoneare available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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