If you’ve played Call of Duty Warzone in recent months, you’ll know hackers and cheaters are a prolific problem. Luckily, a brand new anti-cheat system is on its way that’s expected to reduce the number of hackers significantly. It’ll be coming alongside a new map too!
Raven Software is in a constant state of putting out fires with Warzone hackers. Of course, there are the obvious wall and aim hackers that tend to plague public lobbies. Some of them are more creative, boosting the accounts of random players to the maximum level. Not even official tournaments can deter the cheaters, with a recent Twitch Rivals event requiring a total reset after a hacker made it past online security.
Over half a million players have been banned by this point, but it’s still not enough. The situation has gotten so bad that the game’s biggest streamers have started to leave for other battle royale games like Apex Legends. Staff at Raven Software are just as frustrated as us players. The Creative Director of Warzone has previously said that hackers are ‘ruining some of the best work [they’ve] done in [their] life’.
Hope is not lost
Thankfully, it seems that hope might be on the horizon. Sledgehammer has disclosed that an all-new anti-cheat system will be implemented to the game later this year when the Vanguard themed content launches. Clearly, this new system has been in the works behind the scenes for a while. It’s great to know that it’ll finally see the light of day later this year.
We might have already started to see elements of the new ban system fall into place. Recently, Raven updated the Warzone kill feed to show the name of each player that’s banned. Other games like Battlefield and Rainbow Six Siege also share a similar feature with BattleEye and FairFight.
The question is though, is the addition of a new Warzone anti-cheat system too little too late? If you ask a lot of Warzone players, they’d likely say yes. With Battlefield 2042 and Halo Infinite releasing later this year, Warzone will have plenty of competition to fight with.
A new map is coming!
With that said, Warzone is expected to see a huge boost in content later in the year. Raven Software, the caretaker studio of Warzone, is leading development on a completely brand new map. It’s slated to release ‘this year’, but Sledgehammer couldn’t provide a concrete date. It might not be the same day that Vanguard releases, which is currently expected to be November 5th.
Until now, Warzone has only seen two maps since it launched back in March 2020. Well, calling it two maps is rather generous. An updated version of Verdansk came earlier this year which converted the streets to a 1980s theme. That update launched in April of this year, a whole six months after Black Ops Cold War was initially released.
It sounds like Activision is keen to get this new Warzone update out of the door at a similar time to Vanguard. Sledgehammer’s new COD is using a heavily updated version of Warzone’s engine. The studio has confirmed that this updated technology will allow for more seamless weapon integration between Vanguard and Warzone.
Where will the new map be set?
We don’t yet know where this new map will be set. However, leaks earlier in the year point to a Pacific theatre of war setting. Dataminers have uncovered potential points of interest names that seem to point in the direction of a Pacific setting.
As for how Warzone will make the transition to a WW2 era, we’re not quite sure. Raven Software previously explained the time hop by detonating a nuke on the map. I’m looking forward to seeing how they explain their way around this one.
Although Raven is leading the charge with Warzone’s development, it’s working closely with Sledgehammer to create an extensive calendar of tie-in content. Apparently, it will all feed into a brand new metaverse that connects Vanguard, Cold War, and Modern Warfare together.
I asked Studio Head, Aaron Halon, about how Warzone has changed the way they think about Call of Duty’s development. ‘Warzone has really been incredible in many ways and I think one of the things as developers is it’s really expanded the way that we think about these games.
‘It’s really awesome to be able to explore all these really cool events and moments that can really reach a much larger audience.’
Will you be jumping back into Warzone when it launches its new map and anti-cheat system? Let us know across our social channels.
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Featured Image Credit: Activision