You either die to a Warzone hacker, or play long enough to see yourself become the hacker.
Warzone’s hacking problem continues to run rampant and things have seemingly gotten worse in Season 1. In fact, it’s now a rare sight to find a lobby devoid of any forms of cheating. Things have gotten so bad that Call of Duty players like NICKMERCS have quit competitive Warzone tournaments for good, while Vikkstar has quit Warzone until the issue is fixed.
Frustratingly, Activision has yet to find a definitive solution to the increasing wave of hackers that ruin thegame’s lobbies. Not only do hackers deprive normal players of any well-earned wins, they also keep competitive players from doing their jobs. However, one Warzone hacker has explained why they turned to the dark side.
Why do people cheat in Warzone?
Activision / Infinity WardIt’s not uncommon for Warzone lobbies to be filled with multiple hackers.
During a recent livestream of Warzone, Call of Duty Twitch streamer exzachtt managed to speak to a Warzone hacker. Not only did exzachtt get some interesting insights into why people cheat, but he also managed to find out how easy it is for hackers to bypass Warzone’s anti-cheat system.
After watching the cheater run rampant across Verdansk, exzachtt decided to add them to a party in order to find out exactly why they cheat. “The game is so broken, there are so many hackers in this game that I thought, you know what, let me try it out,” says the Warzone cheater.
The allure of hacking is obviously incredibly strong for many Warzone players, particularly given how ineffective Activision’s current anti-cheat system is. “The only way [Activision] are going to do anything about it, is if enough [hackers] get reported. Because eventually, you’re going to join a lobby and there’s going to be 147 hackers and three people.”
This statement, while extreme, does hold some forms of truth to it. After all, it’s becoming increasingly uncommon to play in lobbies without any forms of cheating going on. Many Warzone hackers have been brazen enough to stream their escapades, while others have even infiltrated the competitive scene.
How easy is it to cheat in Warzone?
Activision / exzachtt (Twitch)The hacker being spectated in the image above went on to win the game with 21 kills.
When exzachtt asked how long this particular cheater had been hacking for, the aim-botter stated that he had been ruining games for three to four months. Exzachtt was obviously taken aback by this statement, saying “Wait, you’ve been hacking for four months and you still have not got banned?!”
“Oh, I’ve been banned multiple times,” explains the hacker. “I have a rotation of about 30 accounts that I rotate through. When you get banned, all they do is shadowban you because you’ve been suspected of cheating. However, when they pull your game logs and game files, there’s no hardware to show that you are cheating.”
Activision / exzachtt (Twitch)Exzachtt watched as the hacker took down a player while jumping off a building.
According to the hacker, Activision only shadowban players suspected of cheating for eight days. This is essential a slap on the wrist and does little to obviously dissuade cheaters from simply playing on another account, or waiting for the shadowban to be lifted.
“You know how every Tuesday they update the game? Usually, by 8 or 9 pm EST, we can get back on because the hack is updated, explains the hacker. “When they update the game, they change the coding of the game. They pull the game files and then they work around that to get the hack back up.”
After hacking for four months, this particular Warzone cheater has only had one account permabanned so far. There’s also the problem of how cheap it is to hack in Call of Duty, with some sites having an entry fee of as little as $10. Despite Activision targeting these cheat websites, it seems that their efforts have done little to crush the current cheating problem that continues to ruin the game.
The Call of Duty League has combined Weeks 2 and 3 of Stage 1 into one massive Super Week of matches, and everything you need to watch and follow the event live can be found below.
OpTic 100-point club Ultra in confident victory.
TJHaLy puts up rare numbers as LA Thieves improve to perfect 3-0.
Empire clutch up in five-map thriller to avoid upset vs Royal Ravens.
Day 4 preview: ROKKR vs NYSL, OpTic vs LAG, FaZe vs Mutineers
Due to the inclement weather in Texas and other parts of the United States causing power outages for a lot of pro players, the CDL opted to combine the Week 2 and 3 matches into Super Week.
Seven straight days of matches will see all 12 teams in action at least three times, and with the Stage 1 Major looming around the corner, this will be the final opportunity for teams to improve their seeding for the $500,000 tournament.
CDL Super Week: Stream
The CDL streams all of its matches exclusively on YouTube, which is where you can also find replays of matches that have already been completed.
Empire & LA Thieves escape upsets, OpTic back to winning ways
Having already suffered an upset loss at Opening Weekend, Dallas Empire barely avoided back-to-back such defeats in their match vs London Royal Ravens. Despite getting completely dominated by the Subliners the day before, London pushed the defending champs to a fifth map before ultimately coming up just short of their first win of the season.
LA Thieves found themselves in a similar situation against the Seattle Subliners, who, just like London, were swept the day before. A back-and-forth affair saw the match pushed to a game five, but that was the most resistance that Surge could offer as LAT dominated the final S&D 6-0, thanks to some historic numbers put up by TJHaLy.
The third and final match of the day saw OpTic Chicago back in action for the first time since their Opening Weekend loss to FaZe. Faced with a stiff test in Toronto Ultra, the Green Wall started off with one of the most dominant Hardpoint wins in CDL history, putting Ultra in the dreaded ‘100-point club.’
The series settled down and got a bit closer after that but OpTic ultimately edged out the victory in four maps, improving to 2-1 on the season while Toronto dropped to 1-2.
Mutineers get first win of 2021, FaZe stay unbeaten
After losing their season-opener at CDL Opening Weekend, Florida Mutineers’ new-look lineup got their first win of 2021 with a 3-1 victory over LA Guerrillas, who now sit at 1-2. LAG won the first map in dominant fashion before the Mutineers ripped off three straight maps to secure the series.
The second match of the day was a battle of the unbeatens as Atlanta FaZe took on Toronto Ultra. The series started back-and-forth, and if it wasn’t for a clutch break at the end of the Raid Hardpoint, Atlanta may have found themselves down 0-2 early.
But things settled down after the second map as FaZe took games three and four quite comfortably to secure the 3-1 victory. The win now gives the boys in red a league-leading three wins, against just zero losses, while Ultra drop to 1-1.
Legion & Subliners sweep their way to first wins, ROKKR stay hot vs Surge
After going 0-2 in the Opening Weekend, Paris Legion finally got their first win of 2021 at Super Week, and what a win it was. Despite being underdogs to the Mutineers, Legion pulled off a shocking sweep that featured a rare Hardpoint ending on time.
Following Paris’ script, the New York Subliners also notched their first one in the win column after sweeping London Royal Ravens in perhaps the most dominant performance we’ve seen so far in 2021.
None of the three maps were close, especially the Control, which saw NYSL shred their opponents from start to finish and not give them even a chance at making any sort of comeback. With the loss, Royal Ravens now sit at 0-2 early on in the season.
Rounding off a trio of Day 2 sweeps was Minnesota ROKKR grabbing their second win in a row after taking apart Seattle Surge 3-0. The series was closer than the final scoreline would suggest as Surge did make solid comebacks in both the S&D and Control, only to fall just short in both.
The win is ROKKR’s second in a row after their upset victory over Dallas Empire at Opening Weekend. Meanwhile, Seattle falls to 1-2, suffering already their second sweep this season.
Matches are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)
CDL Super Week: Teams & Rosters
ROKKRCDL roster spotlight: Minnesota ROKKR’s new-look lineup delivered an upset victory over Dallas Empire at Opening Weekend.
All 12 teams are participating in the Week 2 event, split into the two groups that were drawn at the start of Stage 1. All teams within the same group play each other once during the Stage, for a total of five matches.
Group A
Team
Roster
Dallas Empire
Crimsix, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY
London Royal Ravens
Alexx, Dylan, Seany, Zer0
Los Angeles Thieves
Kenny, SlasheR, TJHaLy, Temp
Minnesota ROKKR
Accuracy, Attach, Priestahh, MajorManiak
New York Subliners
Clayster, Asim, Diamondcon, Mack
Seattle Surge
Octane, Gunless, Prestinni, Loony
Group B
Team
Roster
Atlanta FaZe
Simp, Cellium, aBeZy, Arcitys
Florida Mutineers
Skyz, Owakening, Slacked, Neptune
Los Angeles Guerrillas
SiLLY, Assault, Apathy, Vivid
OpTic Chicago
Scump, FormaL, Envoy, Dashy
Paris Legion
AquA, Classic, Fire, Skrapz
Toronto Ultra
Methodz, Bance, Cammy, CleanX
Make sure to check out our CDL 2021 Season hub for the latest standings, full schedule of all events, a breakdown of the season format, and more.
