Hackers Have Allegedly Figured Out How to End Call of Duty: Warzone Games Prematurely

Being one of the most popular multiplayer games in the world, not to mention free-to-play, Call of Duty: Warzone has faced criticisms and complaints about cheating and hackers that are making matches difficult to enjoy for some players. The latest alleged hack goes far beyond one player having aimbots or wallhacks though. Multiple people are reporting Warzone matches ending prematurely and without warning, capping off with a “Final Kill Cam,” which is a feature of Modern Warfare multiplayer, not Warzone.

The first clip was posted by Modern Warzone, from Twitch user BisaG10.

The video shows a Warzone quads match with 6 teams/19 players left, before abruptly switching to a Final Kill Cam and ending the match without any warning. Strangely, a “1st Place” finish screen is then displayed. A reply to the tweet from Modern Warzone shows the same thing happening in a solo Warzone match with 67 players left in the game.

This time, the player was putting shots into an opponent without them connecting at all, so it appears whatever issue causes the game to conclude messes with the network connection in the final moments leading up to the match ending. As with the first video, it abruptly cuts to a “Final Kill Cam,” which should not be seen in Warzone, and then displays a “1st Place” finish screen for the player, despite them clearly not finishing in first.

Warzone had a mode called Exfiltration last weeek, where matches can end early if you hold a radio for long enough, but it’s only Trios, so neither of the matches from these videos were Exfiltration. Exfiltration also has very clear indicators on the screen of what’s going on, and doesn’t end in that bizarre abrupt way. The first player was playing on PC with mouse and keyboard and the second had an Xbox controller (based on the input icons on screen). It’s unknown if the second player was on console or just using the controller on PC.

While these issues aren’t outright confirmed to be the work of hackers—it could just be a really bizarre bug or in-game exploit—Warzone has a history of being besieged by various hacks and cheats that offer up either unfair advantages or just ruin the fun for everyone in the match. Activision and Raven Software are working hard to squash all of these issues whenever they pop up via ban waves and legal action against cheat manufacturers, but at times it can feel a bit like whack-a-mole.

Whether the work of hackers, bug, or exploit, Raven and Activision need to seal up that vulnerability quickly. Verdansk just celebrated its one-year anniversary, and it seems like the small zombie outbreak is starting to spread, spelling the beginning of the end for the map, which will reportedly make way for a brand new one next month. However, if these final weeks of Verdansk are marred by games ending early and suddenly, it could put a stain on what is supposed to be an exciting event marking the biggest shift Warzone has seen since launch.

For the time being, we’d recommend that PlayStation players turn off cross-play matchmaking to avoid cheaters and issues like these, which are much more prevalent on PC. Hopefully Raven’s recent promise of better communication about anti-cheat efforts will elicit a response regarding this strange problem of matches ending early.