- This Monday, Activision banned over 30,000 people from Call of Duty: Warzone
- The company confirmed that hardware bans are a necessity against continuous offenders
- The game company will continue battling dishonest players
Activision makes an effort to gain the upper hand in the ceaseless battle against cheaters.
Where Bans Aren’t Enough, Hardware Bans Will Take Their Place
Since the release of Call of Duty: Warzone last March, Activision has been in a constant struggle to diminish the amount and impact of cheaters. As the number of cunning and dishonest players grows, so make the company’s efforts to ban them and go for a cleaner game.
The developers at Raven Software announced this Monday, March 12, that over 30,000 accounts have been banned on the same day.
Activision emphasized that cheaters are never welcome. Monday’s banwaves was the seventh high-volume set of bans since other massive anti-cheat efforts in February. Currently, almost half a million accounts have been permanently banned from Warzone, the company revealed.
However, as Call of Duty: Warzone is a free game, account bans aren’t a permanent solution. While they present an inconvenience for cheaters, the latter can still make new accounts. In this case, “hardware bans” are needed, which means permanently preventing the device from which the cheater was playing from connecting to the game.
To the joy of all honest players, Activision did confirm in a blog that it does issue such bans. However, as hardware bans are a serious and severe measure, they are reserved only for persistent and reoccurring offenders. In addition to the massive banwaves, Activision said that their team is actively combating cheaters on a daily smaller-scale basis. The game company reports having recently banned 45,000 “fraudulent, black market accounts used by repeat offenders.”
A Never-Ending Battle
Sadly, even though hardware bans are indeed more serious, they aren’t a surefire solution either. Many of the cheat providers and regular cheaters can afford to play from a different device. The company promises that it is doing everything in its power to keep the game clean, including tackling the problem at its core by targeting the cheat providers and resellers themselves.
Activision vows continuing fighting to ensure a “fair and fun experience for all players.” The company asks fans for patience and promises it will do everything in its power to uphold its ideals.
Cheating and other kinds of offenses are a serious thing in gaming. And as esports become more and more popular and the industry more and more established, so does the number of offenders.
Luckily, the companies aren’t willing to turn a blind eye to that. Just recently, Tencent and the Kunshan police cracked down on a large organization of cheat providers. In addition, the Australian police and the FBI have been busy busting match-fixers, and Riot Games have reinforced their efforts against feeders.
Even with the rising number of cheaters and other perpetrators, it is somewhat reassuring to see various game companies and organizations work to ensure video game enthusiasts a healthier and more enjoyable experience.