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Warzone 2.0 players are getting shadowbanned for earning too many kills

The list of issues in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is lengthy, and now a new problem has begun making the rounds. Numerous players have complained of getting shadowbanned in error, forcing them into lobbies full of cheaters.

Shadowbans are different from regular bans in that your account isn’t actually removed from the game. Instead, a shadowbanned account is placed into lobbies with other players suspected of cheating, making it difficult to enjoy the game. Since Warzone 2.0 is free-to-play, it’s easy for a user to simply create a new account to continue cheating, which is why Activision has implemented the shadowban solution while players are investigated.

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Since Warzone 2.0 launched, players have reported being shadowbanned for no reason. That would be bad enough, but now users report that if you earn 10 kills in a match, you’ll get disconnected and shadowbanned. This means players have to wait several days for Activision to review and reinstate the account.

Below is a clip from popular Warzone YouTuber IceManIsaac showing what it looks like in-game.

This is what it looks like in game 🙃 pic.twitter.com/74NbRtWCrE

— Isaac (@IceManIsaac) January 4, 2023

It’s frustrating enough to get shadowbanned for no reason, but getting penalized for being good at the game is an entirely different beast. If you’re familiar with Warzone 2.0, you’ll know it’s not easy to earn 10 kills in a match, so it’s understandable that players are so upset about this issue.

This bug seems to be relatively consistent across the board, as many players have reported being shadowbanned — each time after earning 10 kills in a match. The worst part is that, much like with other issues, Activision has yet to give the community any sort of update about this particular problem. Players are hoping for some sort of fix alongside the upcoming Season 2 update, which launches in February 2023.

For now, we recommend taking it easy in Warzone 2.0, as you may get kicked after earning your 10th kill.

Joseph Yaden
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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