Modern Warfare 3 Devs Ban 23,000 Accounts For Allegedly Cheating Using AI

Sledgehammer Games has been hammering down on cheaters after the number soared soon after MW3’s release. The situation was so dire that even the beta of the title on the PS5 was facing cheaters before release. Now, the team has banned over 23,000 accounts for cheating since mid-November using the new machine learning detectors. However, a slew of users have come forward to claim they did nothing wrong to be barred.

Initially spotted by @charlieINTEL, the official post by @CODUpdates has spread like wildfire in the COD community. The number of banned accounts is quite high for a few weeks of hunting, showing the heavy enforcement of rules. Regardless, the devs will continue to monitor and enforce the banhammer throughout the holidays.

📢 #Warzone #MW3

Update from #TeamRICOCHET:

We'll be monitoring and enforcing throughout the holidays. Cheaters get a lump of coal.

➡️ New Machine Learning detections deployed
⛔ Over 23k accounts banned for cheating since 11/12
⏬ SPLAT activated over 2k times since launch

— Call of Duty Updates (@CODUpdates) December 22, 2023

The cheaters are given a “lump of coal” as a present —a reference to the sinister statement made by Dota 2 devs to confirm its account-banning spree using fake gifts to ban cheaters. The main culprit behind these bans is the machine-learning detectors used by the devs. While there is praise for the initiative, the post is filled with players claiming they were banned or shadow-banned without breaking any rules.

The new AI has been blamed for being quite harsh and does not leave off even the innocent players at times. “Your ‘new machine learning’ still has some learning to do bc I got banned,” claims one user. “U need to focus on not shadow banning legit players,” says another user in all caps. Additionally, the punishment is not IP bans since cheaters can create new accounts in Modern Warfare 3 to continue their shenanigans. 

There is further criticism because customer support is seemingly not helping the innocent players who have been banned amidst the war against cheaters. The Twitter user @sLkNiK_Gaming claims his friend, a dad who casually plays once a week, was banned for no reason. His stats also did not show any signs of cheating, but customer support did not help much.

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My friend had his account wrongfully banned and customer support told him to make a new account. No support for AI making mistakes. Terrible,” reads the tweet.

All in all, the battle against the 23,000 cheaters has been successful, but many strays have caught innocent players in the process. The AI system against cheaters could be more useful if it can be refined to detect only the bad actors.

Modern Warfare 3 dropped on November 10, 2023, for Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. eXputer’s Huzaifah Durrani reviewed it with a 2/5 score and dubbed it “one of worst games” he has ever reviewed. It was criticized for a lousy narrative, bad mission design, and uninventive multiplayer.

Before jumping right in, do check out our write-up for the best Modern Warfare 3 weapons currently dominating the meta.