ComplaintsforActivision Blizzard, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was falsely banned from playing one of activisions games and I tried to appeal it and they refuse to let me play the game that I spent 100$ on and they wont tell me what was the cause of the ban,and there is absolutely no reason I should have been banned and I can't even get my money back.

  Business response

  11/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hello *******. Unfortunately, all results of the Ban appeal reviews are considered final and neither we nor Activision's player support are able to take direct actions such as modifying or lift any enforcements on your account. Also know that all enforcements are performed by an internal security team and sadly, we are not privy to the details as to the hows or why your account was enforced and neither is Player Support. For more information in regards to the enforcement policies, please visit: ************************************************************************************ Regards, ***

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) on October 19, 2022. I played the product for 8 hours without a single issue. Before its release on October 28, 2022, I installed a new graphics card and power supply. Come October 27th when I tried to update and launch the product to make sure my computer was ready to run the product, I was meant with a permanently banner notification under "Caserma Rhino." After researching this, I have seen thousands of folks on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook complaining about the same thing and what may have caused that wrongful ban. I appealed the ban through Activision's support website only to find next morning that they rejected my appeal. They state that I was manipulating files (hence, cheating) in their game. I have never cheated nor hacked any of their products. Now we have thousands of people who spent at minimum $75 on their product with no addressing the issue or making a statement about what's occurring. To make things worse, I've been having a hard time finding a way to contact a live contact rep for Activision to resolve this issue. But that doesn't take away from the fact that I have lost $75 from this company and the client I purchased it on doesn't allow returns after 2 weeks of ownership or 2 hours of gameplay (which I stated earlier, I have 8 already.) it's really degrading watching a company like that I have supported not care about this customers, let alone not say anything but keep promoting their new product. I have tried other Activision games under that same profile and have no issues what so ever. They need either address those going through this issue or compensate the paying customers for the trouble we're experiencing. Thank you.

  Business response

  11/16/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hello there *******, I will take a look into your case. I really would like to give you another option to appeal the ban as I understand how frustrating it can be to see a ban on the account; however, I can see that you have filled out the ban appeal form. Note that decisions made as part of the appeals process are considered final. For more information on bans, please see the Call of Duty Security & Enforcement Policy at ************************************************************************************* Thanks for your time. Warm Regards, ***

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was playing modern warfare 2 on my PC, I preordered this game months before it came out and the day it came out I played for about 3 hours and took a nap. When I woke up my account was fully banned from playing, I filed an appeal and they rejected it. The reason they gave me for banning me was that I was using some outside software to cheat. I do not own nor have I ever owned any kind of software for cheating. I have never been banned from a game in my life so I am shocked I got banned. The only reason I could think of is I have an application on my computer called DS4 Windows. This application allows you to play some games on the site steam that you usually wouldn't be able to play with a controller. This application is almost always running in the background of my computer for every game I play. Many players use this application world wide for the same reasons I do. This is not cheating software and the applications producer and people that have used the application can confirm this. I have emailed activision about this and have gotten no response. I paid 70$ for this game and they will not give you a refund if you have been banned. I don't even want a refund I just want to be able to play the product I paid for but if it comes to it I would take a refund.

  Business response

  11/15/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hello *****, Your account has been reviewed by Activision one more time and they have determine that the ban will remain on the account, any specifics regarding the ban will not be released in order to help maintain the integrity and security of the game, this is company policy that will not be changing, for more information on Activision's Security & Enforcement policy, please refer to this article: *********************** Please be aware that the Enforcement team runs a thorough investigation before taking these actions on the account, therefore, our position remains unchanged. Kind Regards. **

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  First off my Activision Account is: ********************. I have been playing Call of Duty my entire life. I have been a loyal, honest customer who has never once cheated, nor have I been banned for any behavior on any Activision game. I preordered Call of Duty (aka CoD): Modern Warfare 2 recently. I played about 5.5 hours of the early access campaign this week. A few times the game crashed and I was prompted to "scan and repair." This is a known function in past CoD games so I thought nothing of it. On Friday, I played for about an hour maybe 3-5 multiplayer matches. My game crashed again and I scan and repaired as usual. I signed off for a bit to take a break before my friends got back online to play. When I signed back in I was promptly permanently banned with no explanation. I went online to file an appeal at somewhere between 8:00-9:00 PM Mountain Time. I was given a copy pasted response at 2:50 am Mountain Time, explaining I have "manipulated game files" and thus have been permanently banned with no option to speak to a service rep. I highly doubt an actual human reviewed this appeal, I have seen hundreds, possibly thousands of others receive the exact same response. If even half of us are telling the truth, Activision is stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and soon pushing into the millions if this issue continues to persist. I want to make it clear I do not use any kind of cheats or exploits to gain an advantage. I am not banned from any other CoD game and can still sign in and play warzone with the exact same hardware I used to played Mordern Warfare 2. Activision, Blizzard, or Infinity Ward (studio who produced the game) have yet to even acknowledge this issue exists, yet it is currently documented by trusted members of the community (see NerosCinema video ********************************************. I would love to just have my account unbanned as I am an honest person just trying to enjoy this game with my friends.

  Business response

  11/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hi *****, Thanks for letting me know what happened to your account. The Studio's internal Security team made the decision for any actions taken on the account. Due to that, we are not privy to details regarding the decision's reasoning. You can find more information about this by visiting our Security and Enforcement policy page: ************************************************************************************ We can confirm that you have filled out the ban appeal form. Please note that the decision made after the appeal process has been completed is final. Best regards, ** Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/03) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) What kind of response is this? Did you even read my complaint? It doesn't seem like it. I can't even tell if a human wrote this, if they did, Im sure you just copy pasted this response to every complaint filed. You don't even acknowledge that this could be a possible mistake by your Anti-cheat system. A system that has had no problems with my account until this game. Your response is boiler plate crap to ignore the fact that your product is a ripping people off. Your "security team" reviewed my ban appeal in the middle of the night hours after I submitted the appeal. Further more it does not provide EVIDENCE OR REASONING AS TO WHY I AM BANNED. Let's be honest, a bot is reviewing these appeals because your company is too cheap or lazy to provide adequate customer service. Or you are too prideful to accept that you could have designed a game with a flaw as bad as this one. ************* is a respected journalist in the gaming community and has been looking into this issue. This is happening to thousands of other players. I hope in the coming weeks he is able to put together a strong article showing how poorly your game is made. I have also seen people talking class action lawsuit may be filed since your multibillion dollar company is STEALING MONEY FROM EVERYDAY PEOPLE. I will make it my life goal to let everyone know how poorly your company is run, how little you care about your customers, and how little pride you have in your work. You know I have loved and defended your games for years. I was hoping I would get a better response, even just acknowledging your team knows this is an issue, but this is just disappointing BS. Have a great day. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/05) */ Hello******* Cannot even imagine the frustration felt when you the ban in your account. It is understandable this is not the answer you were looking for and I wish I could do more to help you out on this one You can let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Kind Regards, KT

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a game Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2 on October 27 2022. I installed the game on my pc and played it for a couple of hours. I was banned from using this product for no reason what so ever with 0 proof given to why I was banned. The only thing on this product I was able to do was the single player campaign. This is a known issue and they are not addressing it as many people in this games community is having the same issue I paid 106 usd for this product that I can no longer use

  Business response

  11/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hi there *****, Activision needs to gather all possible information regarding your account in order to proceed with a new review, therefore, could you please send me the following when you get a chance? All platforms you have linked to your Activision account. Your full Xbox Gamertag, full PSN ID, full Battle Tag (Name#1234), and/or Steam ID? Kind Regards. ***

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was banned on Activision for manipulation of game data. I have never hacked or ever tried to manipulate anything. I have been banned on all Call of Dutys and all other future releases. I have bought all of these games at retail price and have been banned and not allowed to play for something that my computer did. My computer unfortunately hard crashed one morning and I have not been able to purchase and play call of duty since then. i want my account to properly be looked at and unbanned for I have done nothing wrong.

  Business response

  11/09/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hello there *****, I will take a look into your case. I really would like to give you another option to appeal the ban as I understand how frustrating it can be to see a ban on the account; however, I can see that you have filled out the ban appeal form. Note that decisions made as part of the appeals process are considered final. For more information on bans, please see the Call of Duty Security & Enforcement Policy at ************************************************************************************* In regards the refund, it will be necessary to contact the retailer where the game was purchase as it is attached to their policies, if there is any option for a refund they should be able to guide you. Thanks for your time. Warm Regards, *** Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/05) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Absolutely unacceptable. Everytime I attempt to make a new account to play your companies games I get striked almost instantly. This is absolutely absurd. So since I can't get my account appealed properly how can I play these games again without getting banned. I would really love to purchase your games and all but its kinda hard when im worried im gonna get striked for no reason. Please help me. Ive spent well over $500 on a few games and all. I just want to be able to play Call of Duty again. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/08) */ Hi *****, We understand where you are coming from however I'm afraid that Security actions taken by the Enforcement team are considered final. We are unable to reverse any actions taken on your account. Best regards, ** Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/11/08) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I'm sorry **, truly. But I just want to know if there is a work around so I can play these games again. I just want to have a solution to the problem instead of spending money on a game I won't be able to play Thank you kindly, ***** ********

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was banned from modern warfare 2 for verifying my game files on steam even though steam recommended me to cause my game kept crashing every 5 minutes

  Business response

  11/16/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hello, *****. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The teams at player support have been unable to find your account. In order to better assist you, could you provide us with the following: - Activision ID - E-mail. - Which console are you playing on? - Username on the platform (PSN ID, Xbox Gamertag, Battletag) We await your reply. Regards, *** Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) *************************************************** PC Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/14) */ Hello******** Thank you for confirming your account information with us. Please know that all results of the Ban appeal reviews are considered final and neither we nor Activision's Player Support are able to take direct actions such as modifying or lift any enforcements on your account. Also know that all enforcements are performed by an internal security team and sadly, we are not privy to the details as to the hows or why your account was enforced and neither is Player Support. For more information in regards to the enforcement policies, please visit: https://support.activision.com/articles/call-of-duty-security-and-enforcement-policy Regards, DA.

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have an account with Activision. I use it to play the Call of Duty games. Recently my account was hacked into. The person who hacked into my account was using software that allows for cheats to be downloaded for Call of Duty. Therefore, Activision permanently banned my account. Shorty after my account got banned, I wrote an appeal and sent it into Activision. In that appeal, I explained that my account was hacked into and that it was not me that was hacking on the account. I requested that they let me unlink the Battlenet account which belonged to the hacker. Activision denied my appeal right away and has done nothing to help me get my account back. I have played for many years using my Activision ID, and never had an infraction. I have spent hundreds of dollars on Call of Duty over the years, and now I have lost that all because my account is permanently banned. All I ask is that I am able to get my account unbanned. Or I would at least like another ban appeal. Again, Activision has been very unhelpful in this whole process. Thank you

  Business response

  11/15/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/02) */ Hello, ********. Thank you for letting us know about yout account. In order to restore your Activision account please access the following link to initiate the recovery process: ********************** In the details section, please specify what platforms are yours and which ones are unknown to you. If there are any e-mail changes, please mention this as well as providing your old account's e-mail. We hope this helps you out. Regards, ***

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently purchased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from Activision Blizzard. The game was constantly crashing and after several attempts to fix the issue, I received a permanent ban on the game on the 3rd day of trying to resolve the crashing issues. I appealed the ban on Activision's website but received a generic email stating I "manipulated game data". This happened after I tried Blizzard's own "Scan and Repair" tool for the game. I have not received any other information or an actual explanation for the ban. I have seen online that this same thing has happened to thousands of other people and Activision Blizzard has refused to acknowledge or correct the issue. I was also denied a refund. I would like to be able to play the game I paid $75.76 for. I have attempted to contact Activision Support via email and phone and they refuse to reply by any method. I attached the email I received and wanted to note that this exact email has been sent to every person reporting the same issue and no actual information is given as it is a copy/paste email sent to all persons the same way.

  Business response

  11/09/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/11/04) */ Hello ***, I understand it is important for you to know more information about your account status. We would like to let you know that the account in question was verified by the developer's security team to be in violation of the security and enforcement policy. Any specifics regarding the ban will not be released in order help maintain the integrity and security of the game, this is company policy that will not be changing. I recommend to check the Activision's Security & Enforcement policy for more information: ********************** Please note that decisions made as part of the appeals process are considered final. You can let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Kind Regards, ** Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/11/07) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This email is a literal copy and paste. Word for word the same email everyone is getting in response. I will go ahead and assume you did not actually talk to anyone in the enforcement team and simply looked at the ban appeal. For an enforcement team that seems so sure of violations, there sure are a lot of other players getting their accounts unbanned. Which means that your security measures are undoubtedly compromised. You keep referencing the code of conduct and terms of service, which I have read thoroughly and I have not made any violations to any. You have quoted "Please note that decisions made as part of the appeals process are considered final.". That is a lie as you have already reversed multiple bans. It will go on record now with the BBB that you lied to me. How about instead of an auto generated copy and paste email, you actually look into the issue. We all know there are thousands of false bans yet you still refuse to even acknowledge the situation. The next step for me will be contacting my attorney to file suit as you have stolen money from me. Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2022/11/09) */ Hello ***. We understand your frustration with this, however, please be aware that account reviews are processed only by Activision studio's internal security department, so we as BBB are just able to confirm the general status of your account according to the Player Support teams. Remember that we as BBB are unable to take direct actions with your enforcement such as review or lift a ban, and all the motives as to the how's or why's are not elements that neither us nor Player Support would be able to detail since the reasons behind a review are not discussed with other teams outside the Security department. However, as mentioned before, we strongly recommend that you take a look at the Security and Enforcement policy in order to better understand Activision's community guidelines. Thank you for your understanding. Regards, **.

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Bough two copies of the game one for pc and one for ps5. They will not let me play the pc version since I already own the game on PS5. The essentially stole my money.

  Business response

  11/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/06) */ Hi there******* Unfortunately, In-game purchases are final, and we are unable to process refund requests. Due to this, we don't have the ability to take action towards this request, If you're looking for a refund for the game, I highly recommend you reach out to your retailer support, to check if they could assist you with this. However, we would love to help you find a solution, could you elaborate on the issue you are facing with the game on your PC, please? Kind regards, MZ.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩