Call of Duty: Warzone is free-to-play, which means anyone can jump in on the first-person shooter experience at a low cost barrier whether they have good intentions or not. Since its release about one year ago, Call of Duty: Warzone has struggled from an influx of players who would rather hack than play their way to success. Publisher Activision recently banned more than 60,000 cheaters in Call of Duty: Warzone for using hacking software, but it seems this didn't even deter cheaters. Now, Call of Duty: Warzone has seen another wave of hackers put a damper on a Season 2 that hopes to improve upon the past.

Season 2 for Call of Duty Warzone dropped late last month with the addition of new content, bug fixes, and a ban wave to get things started. Big Call of Duty streamers immediately weighed in, with Nick "NICKMERCS" Kolcheff quickly finding ways to max out stats for the LC10 SMG and Dr. Disrespect calling the Season 2 update "terrible" after struggling with stream snipers. Overall it seems that the Season 2 update has made some significant improvements to the game, but the new season has not been able to leave all the hackers behind.

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Call of Duty: Warzone players are once again sharing video clips and stories of games played with hackers. These hackers continue to use common methods like wallhacks and aimbots to cheat, and these methods work for them on many occasions. Call of Duty Warzone Season 2 may have new ground loot and blueprints, but it's hard to enjoy the new content when players are being sniped from across the map by an aimbot user.

The amount of hacking in Call of Duty: Warzone has caused some players to simply give up on competition. Pro player Vikkstar quit Call of Duty: Warzone outright, and although NICKMERCS still posts videos about weapon loadouts on his YouTube channel, he no longer competes in tournaments. Other players have simply accepted the persistence of cheaters in the game and have taken to recording potential cheating for developer Raven Software to look at. Although two ban waves were issued before the start of Season 2, it looks like another one should happen sooner rather than later.

The rampant hacking in Call of Duty: Warzone also hurts the game's viability as a potential esport. With multiple thousands of dollars on the line in big esports tournaments, honest competitors want to know that cheating in any way will be next to impossible. Right now that's not the case for Warzone. The Call of Duty League has expressed interest in Warzone esport events, but with the cheating issues plaguing the game right now, it's hard for gamers to see how that would result in a positive outcome.

Call of Duty: Warzone is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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