Hackers are Ruining COD MW2 Ranked Play

Blaming your loss on a hacker is an excuse as old as Captain Price, and in most cases, players are just really good at Call of Duty. For a long time, it seemed like Ricochet was working well for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2, and it was easy to tell when a player was just cracked at the game.

All of a sudden, Ranked Play enters the mix, and the player base loves it. Treyarch released their own version of the competitive mode, and it nailed every beat that Call of Duty players were looking for. What we did not intend was the overflow of hackers that have clearly started to infect Ranked Play though, and what started as the best competitive mode ever introduced to COD has started to deteriorate.

COD MW2 Ranked Play – Are There Really Hackers?

Now that the competitive playlist has been live for nearly one month, all of the hackers have ended up in the same range of ranks, from Crimson up to the top 250 of Iridescent. If you are just starting out, the odds are that you may never even see one, unless they are running a smurf account. With so many fake hacking accusations these days, you might just write this off. How could I really know that players are hacking at such a high volume?

To be as blunt as possible, the hacking has never been more blatant than it is right now. You may think of hacking as ridiculous magnetic bullets and an instant aim bot that eviscerates the enemies around the hacker. However, most of these MW2 Ranked Play hackers are utilizing wall hacks. These cheats allow the user to see where everyone on the map is through any structures, and it gives them invaluable information at all times. Much of the time, it really was not just COD timing at higher ranks.

As of late, players in multiple FPS games, like Escape from Tarkov or in FaZe-sponsored Call of Duty tournaments, have been busted for wall hacks. So we already knew that players at the highest level were getting caught, and these cheats can absolutely make it through the Ricochet anti-cheat. Fast forward to Ranked Play release, and the second coming of hackers was always bound to happen. The anti-cheat does not work well enough at all, and a fix needs to be made.

My Experience With Hackers in COD MW2 Ranked Play

Call of Duty is something I have covered for years now, and there was no doubt I was going to be running Ranked Play. I knew hacking already existed in MW2 because I have been running Game Battles matches since November. I had no idea how widespread the cheats had become until there was an official playlist though.

Some of these hackers in the Diamond, Crimson, and Iridescent divisions do not even hide it anymore. When watching clips back, and staring at kill cams, you can watch these players track you across the map when there was no information to warrant their knowledge or the play. Aim bot does make an appearance once in a while, and those are instantly obvious when you see them. The locked aim makes it painfully apparent, and the fact that they are so high up in the rankings without a ban makes it all even more frustrating. However, most of these cheaters are relying on walls and below-average gameplay.

What really proved to me how bad the hacking had become was the difference between facing pros and cheaters. I have gone up against a few pros, streamers, and top 250 players at this point in Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play, and they were all easier to play against than hackers. They were still unbelievable players, but they did not know where I was at all times, even with the EQ sound settings. Somehow, matches against these pros felt more manageable than the Hardpoint against a random player with seven numbers in their name.

Related: How Many Wins to Reach Rank 50 in COD MW2 Ranked Play?

On top of all the other issues that can cause SR loss, such as bugged-out inactivity, or salty teammates, hackers becoming so rampant has put a smear on Ranked Play games. For now, the community is hyped about the mode, and rightfully so. The experience has been great climbing to the top of the ladder has been one of the best ways to play COD in years. But Season 3 of the mode could be in trouble.

No one at Infinity Ward has addressed the blatant hacking. These are not sporadic incidents either. Hackers are appearing in multiple matches that I play every time I am online, and I am not alone. Nearly every pro player or prominent personality, such as OpTic Dashy or Nadeshot for example, has made the same claim about hackers. Even these teams of pros with four players are struggling in some matches, so imagine what it is like for the average player if you have not experienced this already.

Infinity Ward needs to implement a better anti-cheat as soon as possible, or Ranked Play could very well be in trouble after the introductory season. With mere months before the next COD announcement though, we will all likely be slamming our heads against hackers in Ranked Play until we cannot deal with the circus any longer.

That is all! For more on the Call of Duty title, head over to our dedicated Modern Warfare 2 section full of guides, news, updates, and more.

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