Shadowbans in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 or Warzone 2 are when a player’s account is put under a “review” status, which places them in lobbies with other suspected hackers and cheaters.
Shadowbans in Call of Duty are nothing new, but they are still a sore spot when it comes to community opinion. One of the larger topics dominating the conversation is high-profile streamers, like Nadeshot, who was recently put on an hour shadowban, according to Dexerto.
For those unaware, players can be shadowbanned if their accounts are reported enough times to trigger the “fishy” notification to Call of Duty’s developers, in which case the accounts are then reviewed, and the shadowban is removed, or–in a case where hacking is confirmed–permanently banned from servers.
You might be shadowbanned if you consistently get placed into games with high latency (>300 ping) or your gameplay is highly suspicious. Players can go to Activision’s Ban Appeal page to see if they’re shadowbanned.
CharlieIntel on Twitter cleared up some of the confusion behind shadowbanning in COD:
CharlieIntel then goes on to state:
Though we can’t confirm whether the above tweets are actually true or verified, what we can say is that it would make a lot of sense for players with a lot of notoriety to get put on a no-ban list, especially streamers with a profile and income large enough to make streaming COD their full-time jobs. However, it does create the question: What about regular gamers who just get accused of hacking because their skill level is high? Is it fair that they get shadowbanned?
Gaming can stir up a lot of emotion–and one in plentiful supply is rage, so having a button available to you that can potentially help shadowban someone better at the game is probably not the best system for catching actual cheaters.
What’s your take on shadowbanning? Have you ever been shadowbanned in Call of Duty Warzone or Modern Warfare? Let us know in the comments section below.
For more stories and guides, visit our Call of Duty Section.
