‘Without hackers, Warzone would be f**king lit’: Nadeshot says cheating holds back Warzone’s potential

Since the release of the OG Verdansk map in Call of Duty: Warzone with the Season 3 update in April, the game has seen its largest influx of players in years. Players who had given up on Call of Duty or taken a longer-than-normal hiatus are now back playing, and it's all thanks to Verdansk. This includes popular streamer and former pro player Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, who has been streaming Warzone almost every day since Verdansk was released. While Nadeshot actively enjoys Warzone, he also has plenty to say about the current cheating problem that's running rampant on the map.

Nadeshot went so far as to post a two-minute rant on X/Twitter about the state of Warzone. While the rant does have some positive things to say about Warzone, it's safe to say that Nadeshot might not stick with the game if the cheating issue isn't resolved soon.

Nadeshot titled his rant: "State of the Union: Call of Duty: Warzone," which is fitting given Nadeshot's authoritative stature in the COD community.

Before this rant was posted, Nadeshot had spoken about how poorly the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat has been performing in Warzone. RICOCHET is supposed to stop all cheaters from even booting up the game, but since the release of Verdansk in April, the hacking has gotten worse and worse with every passing day.

However, since Nadeshot talked about RICOCHET, he did say that his recent sessions on Warzone were slightly better in terms of how many cheaters he saw. Nadeshot only plays Ranked Warzone with other streamers and pro players, and he's currently in the Crimson division, one of the highest divisions you can reach. The high division often has more cheaters in it since they don't get caught and skyrocket quickly up the ranking system after performing so well, thanks to their hacks.

Of course, just because Nadeshot is seeing slightly fewer cheaters on a random day doesn't mean that RICOCHET is doing its job. It's likely that thousands upon thousands of other Warzone players are still seeing cheaters in every game they play, especially in Ranked.

Despite the cheating issue, though, Nadeshot spoke very highly about Warzone and the addition of Verdansk. The streamer says that he "wakes up every day and looks forward to playing Call of Duty," and this is the first time he's felt that since the release of Black Ops 6 in November. However, the cheating problem can turn the anticipation into dread very quickly in a session of Warzone.

Nadeshot concludes the rant by saying that "Warzone would be f****g lit without the hackers," which is a sentiment shared by almost the entire COD community. One commenter underneath Nadeshot's rant states: "Warzone is this addictive WITH the cheaters, just imagine it without these issues."

A rant by one of Call of Duty's premier figures doesn't mean any changes will come anytime soon. Players and talking heads have been complaining about Warzone's Anti-Cheat for years, and very few improvements have been made during that time. Hopefully, with the continued success of Verdansk, the team at RICOCHET will find some way to mitigate the cheating problem sooner rather than later. Otherwise, Warzone's player count will start to steadily drop from its current peak.

If you're playing Warzone in Season 3, make sure to check out the new Got Your Six event, which features a slew of interesting rewards.

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