Call of Duty: Vanguard beta has just recently started and but has already been ruined for many players by the swarm of hackers that have been continuously ending matches manually.
The beta has just started yesterday, this was the first time PC players have gotten their hands on the game. Unsurprisingly, the beta experience for both console and PC players has been absolutely ruined by abundant PC hacks. In a Twitter post by @EasyStomps, a hacker has been spotted using wallhacks in-game. When another player calls him out saying “that’s because we don’t hack”, the hacker immediately responds saying “alright, ending the game, oops” and the game immediately ends after only 37 seconds.
Wait this cheater had walls in the Vanguard Beta and when we called him out he made the whole game end. I'm actually mindblowd! pic.twitter.com/2rz9ARSOVd
— EasyStomps (@EasyStomps) September 19, 2021
What stomped many commenters in the Twitter post, is that there is literally nothing to gain from hacking a beta. No progression would carry over to the actual full game when it releases, and it is an unfinished product. What sparks even more controversy is how little Activision’s efforts to punish hackers seem to be effective, even after announcing that banned players from other games like Call of Duty: Warzone will also be banned from Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Call of Duty: Vanguard beta hacks seem to vary depending on the hacker and the third-party software they are using to gain an advantage in matches. Some seem to just flex their god-like abilities, others just seem to want to ruin the game experience for other players by ending the game abruptly at a click of a button. This has been a cause of even more concern in the Call of Duty community regarding hacks. It is one thing when players gain unfair advantages in-game, but having the ability to end matches mere seconds after it had started is on a whole other level.
According to Tom Henderson, the reason behind this heavy security compromise is that the Call of Duty: Vanguard Beta is using the same anti-cheat as Call of Duty: Warzone which has already been compromised in the past. Henderson continues on mentioning that there will be a new anti-cheat software that Call of Duty: Vanguard will use once it releases, which may spell a better overall experience for the paid and finished product.
Fans have also been questioning why cross-play is mandatory in the beta. Console players usually face little to no hacking issues due to the PlayStation and Xbox Live networked being comparatively much more secure, players actually pay for that protection whether it is through their PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold subscription. Players are calling for an option to either turn off cross-play all together or limit cross-play to consoles only.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is releasing on November 5, 2021, and will be available on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
