Call of Duty: Warzoneplayers recently saw some major changes to the game that fixed its frustrating meta, but one decision made by Activision has bothered some fans. The change in question makesCall of Duty: Warzoneplayers’ profile stats private, a decision that has kicked off a new community debate.
A stark contrast from the community rejoicing overthe recent DMR nerfs, players are firing shots at Activision for the decision. The move was made due to the controversy regarding theCall of Duty: Warzonecompanion app, a tool that has been used by players to work around the game’s skill-based matchmaking. With the app becoming widespread, Activision hid all player profile stats by default, requiring players to opt into sharing their stats publicly.
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While the decision was phrased as a way to protect the community from cheaters,Call of Duty: Warzoneplayersbelieve that the move is simply a further attempt to avoid skill-based matchmaking changes. WontonJr and many commenters believe that skill-based matchmaking changes would “mitigate all these other issues,” while players like Redditor graybeard_gamer call the move “shady.” However, it seems like there could be a greater problem caused by hiding player stats.
PopularCall of DutyYouTuber Drift0r, who is experienced with the heavily discussedissue of skill-based matchmaking, highlighted another problem that could be caused by Activision’s decision. According to Drift0r, the biggest issue tied to the stat-hiding is that it allows the game’s more unsavory players to keep their cheating private. By simply not opting in, those exploitingCall of Duty: Warzone’s gameplay systems can keep their unfair advantage hidden away. With players losing a major source of evidence against these cheaters, reporting them effectively becomes more of a challenge.
As pointed out by the YouTuber and others when theCall of Duty: Warzoneapp problemsbegan, the battle royale game’s tournaments will likely be impacted negatively by this decision too. Further, with it requiring a fair bit of effort to activate stat sharing, most players will likely have their statistics hidden without knowing. While it remains to be seen if Activision reverts back to public stats due to the outrage from the community, Drift0r and the rest ofCall of Duty: Warzone’s player base have made some strong points.
Another side of the issue that is not related toCall of Duty: Warzonecheatingsimply sees some players enjoying public stats, as it gives gamers a reason to improve. For now, though, it seems that opting in for stat tracking will be a requirement — even if it proves to be a negative for the game and its community.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
