The $ 250,000 Call of Duty: Warzone tournament was rocked last night by hacking allegations that sparked calls for better anti-fraud in the game.
The squad tournament, which featured some of Warzone’s biggest names, exploded in the penultimate game on the final day of the event after a number of high-ranking players accused a Canadian player named Metzy of using a target robot, in particular a video raising eyebrows.
The video shows Metzy moving the target quickly to a player jumping out the window. Metzy plays Warzone on a computer using a controller.
? pic.twitter.com/MSg22GFhGR
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1; Cross (@ Kross) January 22, 2021
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Thomas “Tommey” Trewren, Warzone’s professional player for the 100 Thieves team, was one of the prominent players in the tournament, accusing Mezi of cheating by running through numerous videos during a live stream.
? Today’s 0K Twitch Rivals Warzone event is full of fraudulent accusations.
The tournament is stalled before the final card, as players call for a restart due to alleged fraudsters in the private lobby. pic.twitter.com/XIm2GUpJKh
– DEXERTO Call of Duty (@DexertoIntel) January 22, 2021
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The broadcast was suspended for about an hour while tournament officials investigated behind the scenes. During his stream, Metz read aloud a message from a Twitch spokesman that “found the gameplay to be unnatural beyond a reasonable doubt.” Go to the four hours and 11 minutes in the VOD below:
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Twitch then tweeted that it had caused Metzy to cheat and removed him and his team from the event.
“We take the behavior of Twitch Rivals players very seriously. We will continue to investigate all allegations of fraud,” Twitch said.
During Twitch Rivals: Doritos Bowl ft. Call of Duty Warzone Final, Metzy_B was determined to cheat. As a result, his team was removed from the event.
We take Twitch Rivals Player Conduct extremely seriously. We will continue to investigate all allegations of fraud.
– Twitch Rivals (@TwitchRivals) January 22, 2021
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Then the fifth and final card of the tournament was played with a team less.
Metzi subsequently denied any wrongdoing. “I don’t use a target robot,” he said in the stream. Later, Metz tried to clear his name by showing his task manager, his recent downloads, and his Google search history. Tommy later joined Metzy on-stream, searching his computer live in an attempt to find evidence of hacks. At a remarkable point during the stream, Metzy granted remote access to his computer to a stranger who scanned his hard drive and downloaded files for closer inspection.
Today, Tommy apologized for his initial accusation, apparently signaling that Metzi had not cheated. “I will raise my hands and admit that we were wrong,” Tommy tweeted. “I’m sorry to disappoint many of you. I don’t know what else to say, but I accept and deserve everything that comes from it.”
I fully understand the hatred I receive and it is deserved. It just wasn’t enough to pass by to give my opinion on @METZY_B, from the things I saw, I believed something was out of the question, but it just wasn’t enough to get there and get everyone to say he cheated. .
– Tommy (@Tommey) January 22, 2021
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I will raise my hands and admit that we were wrong. I am sorry to have disappointed many of you. I don’t know what else to say, but I accept and deserve everything that comes from it.
– Tommy (@Tommey) January 22, 2021
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Now Tommy has offered his winnings from the Metzi tournament in good faith.
I didn’t make him kick out of the tournament, I didn’t report him or do anything like that. After it was reported, I posted a video from my chat. He is more than welcome to take my income from this.
– Tommy (@Tommey) January 22, 2021
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Tommy’s resignation calls into question not only Twitch’s decision to disqualify Metz and his team from the Warzone tournament, but also his process of dealing with allegations of fraud. And then there was the potential negative impact on Metzy’s competitive video game career.
True or false, the allegations have raised a long-standing problem that has plagued Warzone since its launch in 2020: that the game is fraught with hackers.
Activision has been criticized for its lack of communication on the Warzone fraud and the game’s perceived ineffective anti-fraud.
FaZe’s Nickmercs, who has 1.7 million followers on Twitter, said that without effective anti-cheats, “authentic Warzone tournaments are simply no longer possible.”
Unfortunately, without anti-fraud, authentic Warzone tournaments are simply no longer possible. We learned a lot from these gloves and I told them? y? everyone .. There are too many cheeses and too many rats. Bob and weave a baby.
– FaZe Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) January 22, 2021
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Prominent Call of Duty YouTuber Drift0r said that “the fraud with Warzone is completely out of control.”
Warzone fraud is completely out of control. There were people cheating on Twitch Rivals today. 2 of the 5 games I played tonight had scammers.
I want to make content for this mode, but it’s hard to win games when the last round is always a hacker on aimbot.
– Drift0r (@ Drift0r) January 22, 2021
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The Call of Duty community is now calling on Activision to provide up-to-date information on its efforts to fight Warzone against Warzone. In September 2020, Vice’s motherboard announced that Activision had banned about 20,000 scammers, including a streamer and college football player, from Call of Duty: Warzone for alleged use of a popular cheat.
A former Activision employee told Motherboard that these waves of bans are relatively common. “It is rare that a particular scam will last long without being detected at some point,” they said. “It’s always a game of cat and mouse, people who actively use cheats need to understand that you’re very likely to be banned at some point and you’ll just have to be guilty.”
