Activision issuing “hardware bans” for Warzone cheaters caught multiple times

Brad Norton

Outside of the usual account bans, Activision has confirmed that Warzone cheaters are now being locked out of the game thanks to more stringent “hardware bans”, in a bid to find a permanent solution.

With hackers having been a top issue in Warzone throughout its first year, Activision has held true on its promise to finally crackdown in 2021. As the weeks go by, Raven Software continues to provide new insight on just how many accounts have been banned.

At this stage, more than 475,000 Warzone accounts have been blocked from accessing the title. However, players often highlight one key issue with this approach. Given the free-to-play nature of the battle royale, fresh accounts can be remade time and time again.

In order to put a stop to this, harsher punishments are required and an April 12 blog post confirmed Activision is following through: hardware bans are now being handed out for repeat offenders in Warzone.

“We do issue hardware bans against repeat, or serial, cheaters,” Call of Duty staff outlined. “This is an important part of our effort to combat repeat offenders.”

In the past, hackers could simply hop over to a new account and continue their cheating ways. Some even had dozens of accounts ready to go in the case one or two were shot down. Now, that’s a thing of the past thanks to hardware bans.

If hackers are hit with this harsher penalty, they’ll be completely locked out of Warzone. Making a new profile simply won’t do the trick anymore.

These hardware bans are now part of Activision’s daily enforcement. Outside of the regular weekly updates and mass ban waves, daily measures appear to be wiping more and more cheaters from the game.

Warzone gameplay
More Warzone accounts are being banned with each passing day.

This obviously won’t rid the game of pesky accounts overnight. However, it should help deter more cheaters than ever before.

You can stay up to date on Activision’s progress right here as we track the total number of account bans.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com