Call of Duty cheating is out of control, Activision fighting back

Olivia Richman Published 30/08/2020

Earlier this week, Call of Duty streamer Mr. Golds was caught using a cheating program during a live stream. 

While streaming on Twitch, Mr. Golds told his nearly 2,000 viewers that he was “good at the game” because of his “recoil control.” This skill ended up being a hacking software, which viewers noticed on his desktop. 

The CoD community asked for people to report his Twitch channel, which seemed to work quite well. Twitch removed Mr. Gold’s channel soon after the incident. Their community guidelines state that cheating, hacking, and botting is “prohibited.” 

Infinity Ward continues to frustrate Call of Duty players

For Call of Duty players, Mr. Gold’s antics were not too surprising. In July, CoD: Warzone developer Infinity Ward told players that “more banwaves are coming.” 

The statement was heavily criticized by the Call of Duty community, including Call of Duty League analyst and commentator Joe “MerK” DeLuca. MerK and many professional CoD players believed the statement didn’t offer any solutions for the ongoing hacking problem and even encouraged cheaters. 

“At least they asked nicely,” MerK retorted. 

Like many FPS titles, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant, the use of hacks is a lingering problem. Wallhacks and aimbots, as well as cheats that improve movement, are not hard to come by while playing the game online. Another ongoing hack in Warzone has been seemingly endless Cluster Strikes. 

Activision allegedly stepping in to address cheating in CoD

As the Call of Duty community continues to air its frustration with the perception that Infinity Ward has done little to stop cheating, CoD publisher Activision has possibly stepped in to help. 

Activision has allegedly targeted websites that offer aimbots and wallhacks for Modern Warfare and Warzone. In a Reddit post in the Call of Duty Warzone subreddit, a player shared screenshots from one of the hacking websites’ Discord server that states Activision has filed a lawsuit against them. 

“[Activision] has made it clear to us that our services violate their Terms of Use. As a result of our lawsuit with Activision, we have agreed to cease development and support for all Call of Duty related products or services sold through the site. These products will not be returning [to our site] in any form,” the website told its users. 

It also warned CoD players in their server that using their third-party tools could get them suspended or permanently banned by Activision. 

“We apologize for any pain we’ve caused to players of Call of Duty,” the site stated. 

Many of the Call of Duty cheaters using their hacks were upset at the news. Others asked for refunds since they’d already paid for the hacks.

Most Call of Duty players rejoiced at the possibility of Activision suing them, saying they deserved anything that happened to them. They noted that they were “only sorry because they got caught” and knew from the beginning that they violated Activision’s Terms of Use. 

Activision has not made any public statements about filing a lawsuit against the cheating website. Fans of CoD can only hope that this will deter cheaters from purchasing or using cheats. Meanwhile, CoD players are waiting for developers to come up with a more aggressive way to deal with ongoing cheaters and hackers.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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