“Safe to say Call of Duty Ranked is unplayable now”: Xbox Game Pass May Have Opened the Floodgates as Huge Increase in Hacks and Cheats Continues
Xbox Game Pass faces yet another crisis, as its Modern Warfare launch runs into an expected yet familiar issue.
It’s definitely a trying time for Microsoft and its subscription service Xbox Game Pass, as multiple issues have hit it on a variety of fronts. From revisions to its pricing on various tiers not being received well by its players despite some tangible benefits to renewed scrutiny by the FTC over unfair practices, Xbox Game Pass finds itself at the center of a storm.
The addition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to Xbox Game Pass may have been intended to address some of these issues and improve its standing in the eyes of its players. However, things have once again backfired for Microsoft and Activision despite their best efforts to ensure a smooth launch.
Xbox Game Pass Cannot Catch a Break
A recent move by Activision to curb rampant cheating in Call of Duty multiplayer matches may have been a step in the right direction to making the experience more enjoyable for the majority of its players. It served to underline the difference between modding a single-player experience to make meaningful changes to a game that players can enjoy – or some outrageously fun ones instead.
However, the same modifications to a multiplayer experience not only take the fun out of a game but make it downright unplayable for those who look to legitimately earn their progress. That’s precisely the issue with Xbox Game Pass’ addition of Modern Warfare, as Microsoft’s push to transcend console exclusivity has opened up new vulnerabilities to its anti-cheating mechanisms.
Call of Duty Players Suffer the Effects of Rampant Cheating
With Modern Warfare joining Xbox Game Pass along with the addition of multiplayer to its standard tier, many players on PC who purchased their copy off the Microsoft Store are currently being listed as Xbox players in the game’s lobby.
While that may not be an issue in and of itself, many of these players use hacks and cheats to gain unfair advantages over Xbox players despite Microsoft and Activision’s best efforts to curb the same. The post below is a fine example of how a legitimate player who maintained a rank among the world’s top 100 players was brought down low by cheaters.
One can only imagine how frustrating such an experience could be considering the time and effort that such a player would have invested in achieving their ranking only to have it eliminated by cheaters.
Other players share similar experiences with the game, lamenting how cheaters have marred their experience for a few cheap victories. Another player even wonders how Call of Duty can continue to retain its player base considering just how many cheaters are taking over its ranked matches.
It is certainly a cause for concern considering that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has a closed beta around the corner and is poised to be a very profitable addition to Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft and Activision are going to have a tough fight ahead if they expect any sort of success on their new release even as they try to improve the experience on existing titles with Xbox Game Pass.
Players would hope that the companies manage to find an effective – and sustainable – solution to the problem of cheating in their multiplayer lobbies.
