Warzone pros ZLaner & Kalei call out devs after stream snipers ruin another event

Two of Warzone’s top streamers lashed out at Raven Software in the midst of a $25,000 tournament as both OpTic Gaming’s ZLaner and FaZe Clan’s KaleiRenay fell victim to stream snipers once again.

Stream snipers have been an issue in Warzone since day one. Pesky players fixate on some of the CoD BR’s top names in hopes of tracking them down in-game and wiping them out for a moment in the spotlight.

Everyone from xQc to Dr Disrespect has dealt with their fair share of Warzone stream snipers in recent months. The latter even put them on a tier below hackers cheating for wins.

The issue hasn’t gone anywhere despite Warzone’s highly-anticipated jump to the Pacific in Season 1. BoomTV’s very first tournament of the year just so happened to go off the rails early as star streamers ZLaner and Kalei were the targets for the latest stream sniping fiasco.

Jumping into the $25,000 Code Red event on January 5, the pair had their sights set on victory. Within just two quick games, however, their run came to an abrupt end.

They were specifically targeted in their lobbies and soon voiced frustrations on social media. 

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“Thank you guys for the working stream mode,” Kalei said sarcastically, “even when we hide screens. You guys are doing great Raven Software.”

Warzone does, in fact, have a streamer mode for the biggest names to toggle on. Though it does the exact opposite of what you might expect.

Rather than obscuring a streamer’s name to hide their identity in a lobby, it reverses and obscures the name of every other player. This has been a key point of contention over the past year in Warzone tournaments.

Equally frustrated, ZLaner took to Twitter as well with one question. “How hard is it to implement a working streamer mode into a game?”

They weren’t the only team that faced such issues during the event, forcing a number of big names out of the running and leading to one of Warzone’s longest competitions yet at just under 12 hours.

Raven Software has never truly addressed the issue of stream sniping. Despite ample complaints from the community, nothing has yet been done.

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With Activision’s focus currently on stamping out cheaters, perhaps a functioning streamer mode might be next on the agenda.