If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em. That's the unofficial mantra for players who sink to using glitches in online video games to come out on top. Within the competitive multiplayer arena of 2011's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," there are millions of innocent players ready to victimize others - or become unwitting victims themselves.
Cheaters have discovered a new exploit in the popular shooter that adds a powerful tweak to weapons that normally don't allow it.
The Damage Proficiency glitch surfaced on small YouTube channels last week, but its existence has spread with bigger channels posting videos on it over the past few days. Unethical players who devote just a few minutes to some menu diving within the game's robust create-a-class system can add extra bullet damage to the weapon of their choosing.
Why is this a big deal? Played correctly, the game only allows that particular weapon power-up on shotguns. Abusing the glitch turns some automatic assault rifles and sub-machine guns into powerhouses, increasing bullet damage on at least one weapon, the MK14, just enough for one-hit kills. Normally, weapons take an average of two or three rounds to down an opponent depending on range and location.
Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling claimed the developer knows all about the exploit, revealing on his Twitter account that the game's next major patch will address it. Bowling also warned legit players not to give in to temptation.
"The 'damage' proficiency exploit is already fixed in the next patch. We're now tracking anyone abusing it and will ban offenders," Bowling said.
Currently, the only way for legitimate players to discern when they're on the receiving end of a glitched weapon is to watch their killer's killcam. There the cheater's unfair advantage is on display for all to see - and then report via the game's built-in feedback system.
Bowling and co. are well-versed in shipping "Call of Duty" titles with game-breaking bugs.
Infinity Ward's last title, "Modern Warfare 2," shipped in 2009 with several frustrating glitches which were abused for weeks. One nasty exploit turned killed players into suicide bombers, while another granted an infinite amount of killstreak rewards for players who racked up just four uninterrupted kills.
The studio has already patched a few "Modern Warfare 3" problems since the game's release last November, including a no recoil glitch and the ability for players to boost an infinite amount of Prestige tokens. The latter provided early access to weapons along with endless double experience.
No date beyond "the end of this month" was provided for the new update's arrival, though Bowling suggested a possible "hot fix" could be pushed out prior to that.
