Why Warzone Initially Lacked an Anti-Cheat System

Many have wondered about Activision’s stance on cheats and allegations that they profit from them. Today, I’ll provide some insights into this matter. Please note that I am not defending or justifying Activision’s actions.

The Presence of Anti-Cheat Measures

Indeed, there was an anti-cheat system in place during the launch of Modern Warfare. However, this anti-cheat system was primarily designed for paid gaming, where there was a risk of losing one’s game account.

Minimal Cheating in Modern Warfare

Since I started playing on October 25, 2019, with cross-play enabled, I encountered cheaters only twice, despite it being the most popular Call of Duty title.

Why Wasn’t a Better Anti-Cheat Implemented for Warzone?

The reason is that nothing substantial was developed specifically for Warzone. I’ve translated developer interviews on my channel. Warzone was not a standalone game; it was simply an additional mode for Modern Warfare, and it wasn’t even ready by the time of the release. While some mechanics may have been designed with Warzone in mind, it was essentially a new mode. Additionally, Treyarch was working on its own Battle Royale, which we now play in Onslaught and Fireteam. It’s clear that there was a lack of content at launch, and Raven struggled with integration on their own.

The Impact of Covid and the Game’s Popularity

Warzone launched perfectly during lockdowns when everyone was eager to try something new. It’s undeniable that Warzone’s popularity soared, thanks in part to Covid. As a general rule, the more popular a game, the more cheaters it attracts. Initially, there were no cheaters, and the peak came around May of this year. It’s a simple axiom: more players equal more cheaters.

Why Wasn’t the Anti-Cheat Released Earlier?

Based on the information available to us, anti-cheat development has been underway for 14 months. It’s evident that devising and implementing an effective anti-cheat system is a complex task.

Cheating Is a Common Occurrence

Take, for instance, the game Battlefield 2142, which hasn’t been released yet but already has a high demand for cheats. It’s likely that there will be plenty of cheaters in the free Hazard Zone mode if it becomes popular. In paid modes, there are typically fewer cheaters.

It’s challenging to find an online game without cheaters. However, the prevalence of cheaters is lower in other games than in Warzone for several reasons:

• The game is less popular (more players mean more cheaters).
• The game is paid (cheating could result in financial loss).
• The game has a robust anti-cheat system (e.g., Valorant).
• Cheaters face more severe bans (more on this below).

What Did Activision Do Wrong?

• They evidently underestimated Warzone’s popularity, both in terms of content and anti-cheat measures. Other games like Avengers received multiple major updates, while hardly anyone played them. From a business perspective, Activision made the right choices.
• They didn’t take action earlier. They are currently using hardware bans, blocking spoofers, making account switching extremely difficult, and imposing 30-day shadow bans. However, these measures should have been implemented sooner.
• They failed to communicate effectively with their audience. While they couldn’t admit, “Yes, we lack an anti-cheat, and we’re sorry,” the feedback they provided was minimal and seemed to have little impact.

In conclusion:

I’m not stating that everything written here is an absolute truth. However, this is a reasonable overview based on publicly available information.

Again, I’m not defending Activision. I look forward to your comments.

An anti-cheat is expected in the fall, and cheaters have already become less common.