50k Gamers Banned From CoD Battle Royale Game In March Alone
The creators of Call of Duty: Warzone took the ban hammer to the masses this week, crushing tens of thousands of cheaters. The team at Infinity Ward revealed that, since launch on March 10, 2020, they've had to ban over FIFTY THOUSAND PLAYERS from the game. What's more – they've not revealed the specific ways in which they've detected these cheaters, making it more difficult for said cheaters to find their way back to the game. That's normal, but the amount of players banned is certainly not.
The basics were shared by Infinity Ward for their process – starting with a 24-hour-a-day 7-days-a-week monitoring schedule. If the game is online and available for playing, they are watching. They're investigating data, data reports, and identifying potential infractions.
You can read a bunch of the different reasons a person might be banned in the company's official Call of Duty: Warzone security and enforcement documentation. That was last updated on March 10, 2020 – the launch of the game.
On the CoD: Warzone list of potential offenses:
- Decompiling or Reverse Engineering of Game Data
- Improperly Obtained Downloadable/Unlockable Content
- Offensive Behavior
- Griefing
- Glitching
- Boosting
- Unsupported Peripheral Devices and Applications
- Pirated Content
- Use of Unauthorized Third Party Software for Modding/Hacking
"Simply put there's no place for cheating," wrote an Infinity Ward security member. "We recognize that there's no single solution for combating cheaters, it's a constant enforcement every day, 24/7. Rest assured, we're committed to ensuring a fun and fair experience for everyone."
Infinity Ward says they review "all possible cheats and hacks," including but not limited to aimbots and wallhacks. Those are the most universally applicable hacks when it comes to first person shooters. What better way to destroy your enemy than to see through walls, or automatically target your enemy's head whenever you'd like to fire your weapon?
The security team at Infinity Ward suggested that they were working to improve their in-game system for reporting potential cheating. They've let it be known that "plans are underway to streamline the UI for a more seamless reporting experience." they want to make it as easy to report a cheater as possible, so people are more likely to take the time and make the effort required to call out a cheater when they're spotted.
To make clear their efforts to stop cheaters, Infinity Ward said they'd be keeping a count of the number of accounts they'd banned from Call of Duty: Warzone through the future.