Yesterday, we reported on confirmed modded lobbies infiltrating BO1 public matches. Today, the situation has completely spiraled out of control.
Right now, this exploit is heavily targeting Domination, so if you want to protect your account, stay out of that playlist.
Just yesterday, the consensus on Reddit was that this was a minor, isolated problem that wasn’t really affecting the game. Today, the sheer volume of posts proves this issue has blown up, and Iron Galaxy Studios may need to step in with a fix. The most upvoted post on the subject right now by YourBoiHarambe420 is titled, “we need an activision statement now.” While a bit vague, the BO1 community knows exactly what it means. The post highlights the two extreme outcomes of joining these lobbies and gives players a crucial warning: if you see a Max Prestige player in your lobby, it is almost certainly a modded Domination match, and you need to back out immediately.
Here is exactly what is breaking the game: Modders have introduced an extreme XP modifier. While getting free XP might not sound terrible to some, these lobbies feature a massive negative XP penalty if you are eliminated by an enemy. The penalty is so severe it actually drops your account below Level 1. Because Level 1 is required to access multiplayer, getting eliminated in these lobbies permanently locks your account out of public matchmaking.
Because of this risk, players who end up in these lobbies are resorting to a bizarre tactic. To protect their accounts from enemy gunfire while simultaneously cashing in on the exploit, players are constantly blowing themselves up. In these modded matches, a single self-elimination with a grenade triggers a massive positive XP boost, instantly shooting a player from Level 1 all the way to Level 50.
The issue went from a small problem yesterday to completely rampant today, and proof of this is everywhere on Reddit. A recent post from user ZemlyaNovaya shows exactly what these lobbies look like right now: if you check the elimination feed in the bottom left, practically 90% of the lobby is just repeatedly taking themselves out with grenades.
Fortunately, other modes like Team Deathmatch are still completely safe to play. But once again, avoid Domination at all costs until this gets sorted out.