The Black Ops 6 and Warzone development teams attempted to ease concerns about spam reporting, but players didn’t buy it and proved that the problem still remains and has for years.
On December 23, the Call of Duty Updates page explained, “spam reporting of any kind does not impact a player’s in-game standing.” Activision also claimed that users who attempt to spam report will have their account actioned on, and there have already been over 8,000 accounts banned.
However, CharlieIntel reported that the post now has a public community note that states, “This appears to have been untrue for multiple years, now with recent images showing hackers being able to mass report players to get them shadow-banned without the need for multiple user reports.”
Activision has yet to issue a response to clarify the claim further. This all comes after Warzone pro Fifakill claimed that there is a tool that allows cheaters to mass report an account and get the shadow banned with ease.
Shadow bans continue to plague Black Ops 6 and Warzone
For reference, shadow bans typically last around seven to 14 days while Activision investigate your account for any wrongdoing. Players getting false-banned in BO6 and Warzone has been a particularly hot button issue since launch.
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In November, a Call of Duty hacker claims that they exploited an issue in Call of Duty’s RICOCHET anti-cheat that resulted in the wrongful banning of “thousands upon thousands” of Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone players.
Activision stepped forward and admitted that legitimate accounts were impacted. However, the response wasn’t enough to satisfy some confused and frustrated players who demanded more answers about how this ever occurred in the first place.
Given the turbulent history, players questioned why they should trust the development team this time around about spam reporting, and the community note is evidence of a growing distrust between the player base and development team.
Before leaving for holiday break, the CoD anti-cheat team revealed that over 20,000 accounts were banned, and there will be more updates in 2025, but even that wasn’t enough to impress frustrated users.