The Call of Duty Warzone cheating community is livid following recent efforts by Infinity Ward to crack down on hackers with shadowbans and two-factor authentication.
In what is one of gaming’s most cathartic experiences, the hackers who have been ruining Warzone lobbies have finally gotten what’s coming to them, and they’re furious about it.
While sharing the sites in which hacks are sold is forbidden on the official Warzone subreddit, users have begun sharing reactions of cheaters who now find themselves shadowbanned from the BR without any recourse.
With Infinity Ward now requiring two-step SMS authentication for all new PC users, the most popular tool for circumventing punishment has now been slashed. This, in combination with IW’s implementation of shadowbans for hackers, has broken the spirits (and the pockets) of the cheating community.
“Now I can never play Warzone again because the account that had my phone number on it is shadowbanned!” an anonymous but confessed-cheater said. “And you have to have a valid phone number to play the game! By far worst service I’ve bought and a big regret of mine.”
Security Update: We have initiated two-step SMS authentication for new #Warzone PC users, who log in as free to play as another step to provide an additional layer of security for players.
— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) May 12, 2020
Turns out that there are many reactions similar to that one; these guys are “very, very displeased” and those tears, salty as they may be, are music to the ears of those who play the game fairly.
In the past, cheaters could receive a ban after ruining lobbies and then comfortably just swap to a new free account.
Already breaking bank on codes, those desperate for cheesy kills now need to throw ducats at new phones too.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
In another instance, grabbed by ‘berdxD’ on Reddit, a hacker complains that “obviously online disposable numbers aren’t helping out, and detaching my actual number and attaching it to multiple accounts doesn’t work either.”
They finish their whining rant by asking if there is “any way to bypass this?”
No word yet on if anyone has responded that the only remaining way to bypass their issues is to get better at the game, fairly.
Infinity Ward have generally tried to remain unpredictable in their efforts to curb hackers, as that’s typically the best way to protect against punishment. They caught a lot of players by surprise when they recently implemented a change that put suspected hackers in the same lobbies together.
And this move, banning phone numbers instead of accounts, was no exception, as they dropped it suddenly without anyone knowing what was coming.
For now, continue to report these cheaters while they slowly but surely realize they’re shadowbanned by spending hours in queue looking for a match.
