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One of the most successful Call of Duty cheater got himself caught in the middle of a game, leading to his ultimate ban from competitive leagues.
As is the case with so many competitive video games, Call of Duty has a problem with cheating. This issue seems to be pervasive throughout all the franchise's modern titles, including the live-service Warzone and traditional annual releases such as Black Ops Cold War and last year's Vanguard. Cheaters who avoid detection will often use popular methods like aimbots, which allow for greatly assisted aiming and unnaturally quick response times, in addition to wallhacks, which lets the see through walls and better anticipate approaching competitors. Although the franchise's developers have been fighting back against cheaters through responses like the RICOCHET defense system in Warzone, the issue persists in the game's competitive space.
As Activision develops new ways to expose cheaters, some of them are doing the job themselves. A video shared by the Twitter CDL Intel (via GameSpot) shows a clip of player Pplehx's stream. Pplehx, who is currently ranked at the number-two spot on Vanguard's leaderboards, was caught using wallhacks as his stream momentarily glitched and revealed the exploit, which was presumably being hidden from viewers via an unknown method. Pplehx has since come out with an explanation as to why he engaged in these practices, as reported on Twitter by Jake Lucky. Pplehx is still ranked number two at the present, as the Call of Duty community waits to see what will become of him.
While no news has come out about the fate of Pplehx as it pertains to Call of Duty, it's likely that he will receive some sort of ban. Activision famously banned thousands of s from Warzone last year, and even went as far as issuing a lawsuit against a Call of Duty cheat maker. As the Call of Duty publisher continues to crack down on hackers, it will be vital to enforce strict punishments against players caught using cheats, especially during ranked matches.
Call of Duty: Vanguard, just like all other entries in the franchise, is extremely competitive. As such, a spot on a ranked leaderboard is something that is highly coveted by hardcore players, many of whom do not take kindly to someone holding these positions as a result of dishonest play. It will be interesting to see how this ranked space evolves as more Call of Duty: Vanguard players expose themselves.
Source: CDL Intel/Twitter, Jake Lucky/Twitter, GameSpot
