Activision has de-activated around 20,000 Call of Duty: Warzone accounts after successfully detecting a popular cheat. This new ban wave comes right on the brink of Season 6, where many players would be returning to the game in search of new Warzone content.
Tons of different players were caught in the ban wave for using a popular cheating app. Streamers, a football player, and many other Warzone players will be experiencing the immediate effects of the ban and the zero-tolerance policy that Activision and Infinity Ward have for cheating players.
The ban hit Warzone streamer Nick Wanger, Twitch name Wagnificent, in the middle of a Warzone match, immediately after his first kill, displaying an error message that he did not understand. After restarting the game, he was greeted with a simple game message reading "Account permanently banned." Wagner's original response was surprise saying "The day before the update to they gotta pull some s*** like this."
Wagner returned to playing Warzone on a friend's account, but hasn't commented on the situation. Wagner's ban lines up with a wave of account bans revolving around popular cheating program EngineOwning. Reportedly, when Call of Duty: Warzone's anti-cheat measures detected the cheat engine being used by players, it immediately prompted bans across multiple accounts.
It is not surprising that the ban went into effect so quickly, as when one type of program is used by several players, it doesn't go unnoticed for long. As of Tuesday, the cheat EngineOwning website displayed a new "detected" warning that signifies to players that Activision has learned to detect the cheat. Any player using the software will be immediately caught and banned by the game's anti-cheat measures.
Comments on the EngineOwning forum showed that several users were disappointed to see their cheating software banned. Apparently, some players were using the software to learn the game and maps and simply stopped using it once they were comfortable playing at a casual/competitive level.
More interestingly, Clemson Tigers football player Xavier Thomas went to Twitter complaining about the ban. It is surprising how many players were actually affected considering that Activision only banned one form of cheating software in this round. The official Infinity Ward Twitter re-affirmed the ban wave reasserting the companies' zero-tolerance policy for any cheaters in Modern Warfare or Warzone's many multiplayer options.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: Vice
