Did Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard with the intention to push on and make the quality of the games better? Or simply to line the bank account some more? That's a question that needs answering because lots of players have simply had enough of the state of Call of Duty right now.
Some of its biggest content creators are starting to back away from playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone because it's becoming unplayable. The two biggest culprits are the useless anti-cheat and the poor networking. Combined, these make online multiplayer games, especially in ranked, a terrible experience.
Nadeshot is one of the most well-known names in Call of Duty. A multiple-time champion at the highest level, the owner of the 100 Thieves organization also has a Call of Duty League franchise and is a content creator in his own right. In the clip below (via SpawnUp), he outlines why, despite liking Black Ops 6 as a game, he's stepping back.
Nadeshot announces he will be stepping away from Call of Duty: "...I can't play it, I can't enjoy it - there's no integrity, somebody is always cheating, the network sucks, or the game is broken..." 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/WdbcjJeoYzDecember 17, 2024
Before someone else says it, yes, Nadeshot is in a privileged position, and he's lucky that he can step away without it affecting his ability to pay his bills. Smaller content creators may not have that luxury if their entire base is built from Call of Duty.
But his words aren't his alone: he speaks for the wider community. The anti-cheat has been talked to death, and TeamRICOCHET, the makers of it, have admitted they missed the mark. But for the rest of Season 1, at least, it looks like we are where we are.
The networking and servers, though, are especially inexcusable. Even before Activision became part of Microsoft, it was not like it was a small startup struggling for funding and infrastructure. But now it's part of one of the biggest server companies on the planet? Not good enough.
I've seen cheaters myself, especially in ranked, even at the low levels. It's infuriating. But more so is the fact that on a Saturday, my day off work, I load up to play some Black Ops 6, and I can't get a match below 107 ping. It's not always that bad, but you want it as low as possible, and most of the tim,e it's just not. I'm lucky to have a really strong internet connection, but that doesn't help when the networking in the game just isn't up to snuff.
Microsoft has the resources to fix the biggest issues with Call of Duty right now. The company makes Windows, the system being used to deploy most of the cheats. It also has an incredible offering of servers and infrastructure and the know-how to make it all work.
Someone from high needs to step in if Activision's leadership isn't going to do it on their own. From the player's perspective, it looks like all the priority goes into shilling new skins on the store and not into actually fixing fundamental problems that harm the experience.
It's unlikely that a game this big would ever lose enough players to cause concern in the boardroom, but Microsoft should listen to its most vocal and well-known players. They have a voice that speaks up for everyone, and Microsoft needs to listen.
