Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins has used his Warzone Wednesday Week 3 victory to speak out about the Call of Duty battle royale’s cheating problem, stating he and his team had to use workarounds to avoid hackers in their lobbies.
While Ninja had come close to tasting success in the Modern Warfare battle royale, during Week 3 of Warzone Wednesdays, he finally broke through.
Partnering up with two-time champions JoshOG and Diegosaurs, the trio picked up their first win as a squad by quite some margin. However, their win didn’t come easy, after Ninja’s team was swarmed by hackers early in the tournament.
Congrats to @Ninja @JoshOG & @diegosaurs for winning week 3 #WarzoneWednesdays !!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ItqgkHTnQv
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) April 7, 2020
While it didn’t ultimately affect their own placing, it forced the Mixer superstar to pause and reflect on how big of an issue cheating in Warzone has become.
“Three of our five games we died to hackers early, and one of the games I plugged a controller in to get a console lobby without hackers,” the streamer said on Twitter mid-way through the bracket.
For as many streamers who love to play the battle royale, there’s an equal amount of stories about how hacking is ruining the experience. It’s more than just stream snipers — full-blown god-mode-users and aimbotters are taking over.
@jjcasts 3 of our 5 games we died to hackers early and one of the games I plugged a controller in (first time ever on cod) to get a console lobby w/o hackers.
— Ninja (@Ninja) April 6, 2020
The hackers didn’t mysteriously vanish after the tournament ended either. Ninja wanted to unwind with some Warzone on stream afterwards, but had to quit after cheaters constantly ambushed him
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“I’m not kidding, 7/8 solo games after Warzone Wednesday I had a hacker kill me at airport, and chase me across the map after I won a gulag and kill me again,” he said.
Ninja’s experience was affirmed by other streamers like Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop. “Skill based matchmaking combined with hackers every game ruins it,” the 100 Thieves star added. “Such a shame.”
I’m not kidding, 7/8 solo games after Warzone Wednesday I had a hacker kill me at airport; and chase me across the map after I won a gulag and kill me again.
Thank God Valorant beta goes live tomorrow.
— Ninja (@Ninja) April 7, 2020
It’s such a shame. I feel the exact same way. People tweeting me “stop playing then” or “stop complaining”
I fucking love Warzone. I really do think it’s a damn blast.
Skill based matchmaking combined with hackers every game ruins it. Such a shame.
— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) April 7, 2020
Ninja’s one of many streamers to demand Infinity Ward clean up Warzone’s cheating issue. Most recently, Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag warned Warzone will “die out” if Infinity Ward don’t add any kind of anti-cheat software.
Given the FPS game landscape right now, with Valorant releasing in just a matter of hours, these issues could spell the end for the incredibly popular battle royale.
Infinity Ward have made commitments to stop cheaters, so it’s just a matter of time to see if their efforts seed change, or if it’s more of the same.