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Why are there so many hackers in COD Vanguard beta?

The recent surge in hackers worming their way into COD Vanguard had players worried and there is a good reason for it: the new anti-cheat has not been deployed yet.

By Chadley Kemp |

First Published September 21, 2021, 07:20

Why are there so many hackers in COD Vanguard beta?

Following the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard, several players have raised concerns regarding the onslaught of hackers in the game. Notwithstanding the usual wallhacks and aimbots, the situation has become so dire that some hackers are even able to end matches instantly.

Although the game is still in the Beta testing phase, the latter issue does not inspire much confidence in Activision to ameliorate a problem that practically ruined Black Ops Cold War and Warzone -- especially since Activision advised that a new anti-cheat was headed our way.

This has led many players to wonder why the f*** there are so many hackers in COD Vanguard Beta. Fortunately, it seems as though we finally have an answer!

Why are there so many hackers in COD Vanguard Beta?

According to a tweet by an insider source, the reason there are so many hackers in the COD Vanguard Beta is that the game currently employs the same "compromised" anti-cheat system that is used in Warzone.

For those wondering why there's so many hackers in the #Vanguard Beta, it's because the Beta is using the exact same anti-cheat as Warzone (which has been compromised).

New anti-cheat will be coming once Vanguard releases, but it's definitely concerning seeing so many hackers.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) September 20, 2021

Henderson explained that the "new anti-cheat will be coming once Vanguard releases" on 5th November but admits it is "definitely concerning seeing so many hackers" in the game. He's not alone in thinking so, either.

"Don't you think it's interesting that they didn't implement [the new anti-cheat] in the beta? Doesn't shout confidence," one Twitter user responded. Indeed, it would make sense to have deployed an experimental version of the new anti-cheat system, however, this would not come without its own caveats.

The COD Vanguard Beta does not use the new anti-cheat, insider source says. (Picture: Activision)

For example, if Activision did, in fact, deploy their anti-cheat early, it could allow hackers and cheat providers to dissect the code of the new anti-cheat and find vulnerabilities that could compromise the system ahead of its official launch. On the other hand, there are sceptics who believe that this will occur regardless, following its official launch in November this year.

Only time will tell whether the new anti-cheat will be any good, but at least we know why the COD Vanguard beta is such a mess right now. We trust (or hope) that Activision will continue to tease out the issues during the Beta to ensure a hacker-free, stable release version of COD Vanguard later this year.