Every new Call of Duty release comes with a barrage of complaints from the player base, some justified, some seemingly just for the sake of it.
But the internet is teeming with players who have apparently received shadowbans for reaching the not-overly-high 10-kill mark in a single match of Call of Duty: Warzone 2. Clips are being shared and popular Warzone 2 streamers are up in arms about what seemingly can happen when you reach the 10th kill. Hitting the milestone seems to throw up the possibility you will then be kicked from the game, the second that shot registers.
Worse still, affected players are also reporting that they are put into their own cheater’s gulag, meaning they can only play games in a smaller lobby with other suspected cheaters until they are either cleared or found guilty of foul play - a process that can take up to a couple of days, as they are all assessed by the developers, who may then issue further suspensions.
Whether this is a bug or an over-zealous anti-cheat algorithm kicking in is not clear. Also not clear at this stage is whether the action is only triggered if you hit the magic kill number in a certain time period, or are running certain game enhancements, which would make more sense as there are definitely cheaters out there who do need to be regulated.
With up to 150 players in each Warzone 2 battle, 10 kills does seem to be a bit on the low side as experienced players who get lucky could easily get that number, and won't want to ease back on their trigger finger simply because they are on nine kills - especially if it could mean not winning a game.
Interestingly, as the complaints have only just surfaced and because Warzone 2.0 has been out since the middle of November last year, it could also point to a tweak in the game’s code in a recent patch.
Plenty of Warzone 2 players have also pointed out that they have surpassed 10 kills on numerous occasions without being hit by any kind of penalty which further points to the Ricochet anti-cheat system that Call of Duty Warzone 2 uses, potentially flagging up what it seems as suspicious activity from a player. So if you are indulging in any nefarious activity to boost your stats, it would be wise to revert to playing fairly.
We have reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment but, as yet, have not received a response.
