Hackers are a major problem in Call of Duty: Warzone. To be fair, they’re a problem in every major online multiplayer shooter, but Warzone deserves special recognition due to the popularity of the Call of Duty franchise and its history of anti-cheat shortcomings. That will hopefully change with the introduction of Activision’s new Ricochet anti-cheat, arriving with the Warzone Pacific patch next week. However, there continue to be other problems in Call of Duty: Warzone that players are frustrated aren’t being addressed.
A common focus of concern is how Call of Duty: Warzone players are individually able to deal with hackers they encounter in-game. Specifically, how “blocking” hackers is seemingly the best way to not be placed in the hacker’s matches again. The issue, however, is that players like capitoljay85 are encountering so many Call of Duty: Warzone hackers that their block list is filling up to its cap of 200 blocked players. At that point, players are left with a choice, either to not block a hacker or remove another hacker.
Obviously, not blocking a hacker isn’t a choice that any Call of Duty: Warzone player wants to make; perhaps the only thing that feels worse than losing to a hacker is re-queueing and getting the same hacker in another match. Removing other hackers from the block list isn’t optimal, either. Warzone players have no idea whether those hackers have been banned or if they’ll show up in matches again.
But while the choice itself is excruciating, the truth is that Call of Duty: Warzone players shouldn’t be having to make this decision in the first place. If all hackers can’t be kept out of Warzone, then they should be discovered and banned before a player is even able to matchmake with them again. If that’s impossible, too, then hackers in a blocklist should be cleared out if they’re permanently banned. If that’s impossible, then blocklists should be thousands of players large so Warzone players never reach a cap.
Though Call of Duty players through the many iterations of the franchise have grown used to a lack of meaningful improvement in anti-cheat, some do have at least a bit of hope. Ricochet will launch alongside Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific, and it should have an immediate impact on players’ experience.
The unfortunate truth is that while hacking is a major concern for players, it hasn’t stopped the Call of Duty franchise from growing into such a massive success. As such, Call of Duty: Warzone players will just have to be content with what they receive, though there’s no reason not to want something better.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
