Maybe we just can’t have nice things after all?

That seems to be the hot take from a recent report that says cross-play on COD: Black Ops Cold War is being hampered by rampant cheating on the part of PC players. Of course, that makes sense since modding a console is a little bit more difficult. Nonetheless, the vaunted cross-play feature in Activision’s money-printing machine is apparently not worth it for console gamers right now and many are choosing to eschew play with their PC counterparts altogether in order to avoid this issue.

So much for being able to pit gamers from different platforms against one another, eh?

For those of you that aren’t first-person shooter aficionados, cheating in those games mainly involves things like an aimbot, no clipping, and other overlays that show you player locations. In the case of the first method, a player’s reticule will focus automatically on a kill shot area on opposing players while no clipping and telling you where everyone is located are pretty self-explanatory cheats. That’s definitely not meant to be an exhaustive list of the ways people cheat in these games but they are some of the most common by far.

What makes all of this even more hilarious is that the cheating is occurring during BETA testing for the game’s multiplayer.

Like this YouTube video so poignantly asks, “who cheats in beta?”

As far as some gamers are concerned, though, this is really just indicative of a much wider-spread problem that makes these games miserable to play for both console and PC gamers. Eurogamer reports that a search of the web already reveals numerous hacks for sale for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – a game that doesn’t come out until November 13. Eurogamer further reminds us that this problem also hit Warzone back in April and the plague of cheating on COD properties, in general, is a near-constant in the gaming press.

In the meantime, console gamers are simply turning off cross-play functions to avoid this issue. Not only is that a pragmatic solution, but it is also one that is easily implemented. But with the launch of the game right around the corner, some fans are wondering how smooth everything is going to be on day one if cheats are already this prevalent. And let’s not kid ourselves here. As much as gamers claim to enjoy the campaign, COD is one of those franchises that rises and falls on the success of its multiplayer. Hopefully Activision can work everything out between now and then.  

Do you play Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer? Have you had issues with cross-play? Or have you encountered any cheaters from the PC side of things in other cross-play games? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments section below. Also, before you leave, check out our other video game content here.