Popular streamer NICKMERCS is hoping Call of Duty: Warzone 2 developers will consider hosting more tournaments for competitive players, but only if they are hosted on a local network. NICKMERCS expressed dismay at the alternative, an online tournament that may breed opportunities for "scammers and cheaters."
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is the latest entry in the Warzone battle royale series by developers Infinity Ward and Raven Software. The free-to-play companion title to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 recently released its second season. In addition to a new map, Warzone 2 players celebrated new features like Circle Collapse and fan favorite features from past titles, like Resurgence.
As is now common with the launch of popular titles, fans not only flock to experience Call of Duty: Warzone 2's new content for themselves – they also watch streamers like NICKMERCS who are sure to showcase the game on their channels. Following the February 15 launch of Warzone 2's second season, NICKMERCS indeed got a chance to stream Warzone 2 to his audience, and, based on his positive experience with the game, was surprised that teams at Infinity Ward and Raven Software had not yet arranged any tournament-style events for the title in 2023.
However, NICKMERCS proposes that such an event would need to be supported by local area networking to thwart attempts from players to manipulate features in Warzone 2. A local area network, or "LAN," would require players to gather in a common area, as opposed to an online tournament that could be participated in remotely. NICKMERCS adds that those known in the CoD community for their prowess might benefit from an opportunity to prove themselves on a LAN where modding and cheating would be closely monitored, if not impossible.
Developers are constantly on their toes thinking of new ways to prevent players from illegally manipulating cooperative gameplay, providing keys to players that bypass having to purchase titles, and even selling games with minimal modding that still largely represent the developers' intellectual property. Another popular developer, Bungie, recently won a $4.3 million dollar lawsuit against AimJunkies, a cheat creator profiting off cheats developed for Destiny 2. The cheating and scamming that NICKMERCS and his fans are addressing are of real concern.
Activision, the publisher for Call of Duty: Warzone 2, already has plans to release the title's third season later this year. As NICKMERCS pointed out, there are still no competitive events planned for Warzone 2 between now and then. It's possible that, instead of a tournament, developers may choose instead to prioritize new features and fixes that address current critiques and concerns about Warzone 2's gameplay.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.