COD is full of RATS and we are their CHEESE

[@Bricky]

This one was a doozy. But I really enjoyed writing this. Something close to my heart and I'm really passionate about.

[@That_one_Greek_guy]

The video was awesome and you did a good job explaining all the technical stuff (Maybe, I don’t know a thing about exploits myself), but hopefully your video and the efforts of others will raise awareness about the total neglect of Activision towards its paying customers as well as all their shoddy business practices.

[@cluelesscoffee4236]

Why did you not end the vid with a compilation of all the different cod devil pucs

[@ps1bladez]

this is a service to the community thank you sir

[@ericteddy2133]

Bravo Bricky this single handily the best video you ever made and one of my favorite KZbin videos.

[@AREB1DER]

Ngl I enjoyed infinite warfare..it was like a combination of ace combat and cod….just hate that “spoilers” everyone dies.

[@M3RKMUS1C]

Thanks for having me on here Bricky, we must all buy rat repellent ASAP! 🐀

[@russian_knight]

Oh my COD it's merk

[@rakso2796]

IT'S THA MERK

[@NotOuuija]

Faze Booce inhales rat repellent and sniffs cargo jeans HARD

[@TheNightracer]

Two of my favorite KZbinrs together. It really is the rat of all rats.

[@zivistan2376]

@@russian_knight nice word play

[@Raskyl]

The fact that bobby actually has issues with his dating life due to being photoshopped as the devil just brought a smile to my face.

[@dankmemes8254]

Wait thesse are photoshoped???

[@daniyarsadykov3385]

We finally found his weak spot

[@ImDaRealBoi]

Keep going. We need to make sure bobby gets NO pussy; NO action.

[@quiviknotpotato6806]

Bobby Kidsniffer.

[@matt5842]

its a small comfort, he can always hire a woman whenever he wants and will have no shortage of golddiggers around him.

[@MrTLexify]

Glad you've brought more publicity to this issue. I've been trying to for years and someone could still imo make a strong lawsuit case against Activision and win if they don't fix selling their broken games.

[@rayjingbonur9475]

Love your content mrT, hope you eventually can go into bo2/bo3 without fear of being fucked by rce and RATS

[@ThisisCitrus]

I would have already if it got as bad as it did for you. What happened to you is because of Activision. I'd lawyer up immediately.

[@flamingscar5263]

the problem is no one other then the most richest of youtubers could afford to take Activision to court, Activision's lawyers will find every, EVERY SINGLE WAY UNDER THE SUN, to drag the case out as looooonnngg as possible, the more they drag it out, the more money they burn on both sides, Activision can afford to burn so much more money then anyone else can the only hope is Microsoft, that Microsoft puts a team on these old games, even if its just a few people, or hell that Microsoft just buys out things like Plutonium and implements that into the games directly, they have a track record of doing just that, many people at 343 started as forge creators who Microsoft hired to be actual map makers Edit: forgot to also Mention, Activision would gladly burn more money then they would even lose in the suit because it means they can continue doing what they are doing, to Activision its not about the money, its never been, its about making sure these old games die a painful death so that they force people to play their newest slop

[@sirisaac6225]

⁠​⁠@@flamingscar5263They want people to play the newest games BECAUSE they want more money, so it is still about money lol. Activision doesn’t care for their own employees so obviously they don’t care about their fans. Whatever makes the most money for them is their objective. Always has been and always will be.

[@thetoe9277]

You a real one

[@CommissarMitch]

So I recently returned to a game called Day of Defeat Source. It is a Valve game; WW2 shooter. Released around the same time as Counter Strike Source. The maximum amount of players on Steam was around 2000-3000 people near launch. Nowadays it is a few houndreds. In 2021, this game got a security update along with stability things. Valve care more for their game that fewer people played than people in a small town, than Activision does for one of the biggest franchises on the planet.

[@vizthex]

hell, valve updated their first ever game that undoubtedly has a janky code base for its 25th anniversary, and they fix random shit so often that the launch vs. final version of their games look and feel different.

[@craigkuhlman6869]

Now if only they did that for Team Fortress 2 as well...

[@lolman6759]

​@@craigkuhlman6869 I mean even if they don't add content they still keep the game playable

[@williamgrant3231]

Valve. VALVE. CARES MORE THAN A AAA STUDIO. Goddamn.

[@andriosgustav5578]

​@@williamgrant3231probably gabe was bored and wanted to do something

[@7000_Skeletons]

It warms my heart that despite Bobby's untold wealth, he still can't get laid because he's just such a contemptible goblin

[@dankmemes8254]

Prove that even if you are filthy rich you need to have good personality Checkmate doomers

[@negative6442]

Even lowly goblins are not worthy of as much scorn as Bobby Kotick

[@ceu160193]

Nah, he is just way too greedy even to pay enough to women he wants to sleep with.

[@hoshi314]

Hey even contemptible goblins are better than Bobby Kotick, apologize to the goblins

[@H_P_Lovecraft]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Bobby somehow got married and created 3 hell spawn with his succubus

[@ObiWanShinobi917]

I used to work for EA as a Code Analyst. I worked on Apex Legends from the release of Revenant to the early beta testing of Ballistic (or is he called Caliber now? Not sure he had many names) I worked very closely with the Devs, and spoke at length with them about everything from various quality of life improvements they wanted to make, to heinous shit in the source code that needed to be fixed, as it could one day lead to exploits. These devs do not become devs because they want money. They chose this profession because they fucking love videogames, and creating them/making them work is their passion. The companies, ALL companies, simply will not allow them to do what needs to be done to deliver quality products. These guys do not have free reign over what they work on. They have orders that come down straight from the top, and they have no choice but to comply. They are sacked with thousands of bugs, potential exploits, impossible deadlines, random lines of code just breaking for no fucking reason, and constant pressure to meet timelines for all of it under threat of losing their jobs. Something needs to be fixed? They have to ask for permission. If whatever the issue is, isn't gamebreaking, and won't cause a significant shift in the revenue of the game, they are told to ignore it and get back to "real work". Its a fucking crime how these devs are treated. I never met a single one that wasnt uber-stressed, near tears, at the end of their sanity, or ready to fly off the handle at the slightest inconvenience due to constant pent up frustration. These issues will never be solved until we stop letting big corporations make games. We need to make the art of making games a closed community, come together and shut out anyone we know who isnt in it for the passion. Create a market of devs who are their own bosses and pour their passion into every game they make, then make that market large enough to compete with, and eventually strangle the life out of big corpo games. The only way big corpo stops fucking us and our wallets over with release after release of steaming piles of dookie, is if they realize they can't sell it to us anymore, because there is a better alternative. Oh, and if youre wondering why I left EA, its because they did the same thing Activision did, and fired all of their employees for Apex that werent absolutely essential for the function of the game. Testers, analysts, basically everyone except the main dev teams. So yeah. Fuck big game companies. Fuck em all.

[@xAustishx]

I came very close to quitting video games all together a few months ago. Wasn't until the Microsoft buying Activision thing that roped me back in to play old cods on my Xbox. With Metal Gear 1-3 re-releasing along with an MGS3 remake AND a Silent Hill 2 remake, I came back. Once these games are out and I purchased them, I'm done with gaming. It's gotten to the point where not only is it hard to set enough time aside to play them, but like you said the corpos just want our money, and it can be felt, it's tangible in every game I play these days. There is no passion in these games like there was when I was growing up. N64, Super Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, ps1, ps2, ps3, Xbox 1, Xbox 360 all had PASSION. They had games with PASSION for their platforms. That passion is long gone for current games, where it's all about paid online play, and every game is released as a buggy MESS, while shoving microtransactions down your throat every step of the way. I hope and wish that your idea was a reality, but unfortunately I think it will never change. We have been speaking of changing the way the industry is by "voting with our wallets" for the past 5/6 years. Nothing has changed, it's actually gotten worse. And what's even MORE worse is that companies are seemingly going out of their way to make their old games, which were far better, literally unplayable. Like it was said in this KZbin video, single player games will be the only "preservation" we will have. It makes me sick to see what was once an amazing past time in my childhood for me, my friends and family, get manipulated and twisted into a trash pile with a sign saying "Give us more money!". All because of greed, from these large corporations. I think I'll save my money for fishing, hiking, camping, music, literally anything else with my friends. Gaming is going downhill. I agree with you, fuck big companies indeed. They ruin everything to line their pockets. And they have ruined gaming.

[@fokionleile7662]

@@xAustishx what did you expect from dumbasses forking their monthly wages over for some grossly overpriced mtx because?

[@alecmiller5296]

More people need to support the Indie dev scene. Not only is it thriving game wise because of that passions for making games you talked about is still there but the actual developers benefit much more.

[@Ezonial]

Larian employees seem to be in a good spot right now compared to a lot of the industry. I'm hoping more companies similar to them are formed in the coming years, where the decision makers and CEOs have the passion for making good games, and make that a priority.

[@diegodunn-humphrey512]

Keys

[@deathkorpsgrenadier2419]

It was a pleasure to draw Bobby as the devil before, but now... it's an honour

[@jonathantreleven1823]

Thank you for your service to this community 🫡

[@MrMuziekman]

i salute you sir he deserves all the hate he geats that waste of space piece of garbage

[@WillTBear1]

You're doing The God Emperor's will

[@truecaliber1995]

Then, it seems the Death Korps of Krieg has done its job. The Emperor's protects.

[@ThatDevilBrony]

At this point, it’s just a rite of passage :P

[@CallOn84]

I can't believe that Activision hasn't been sued for selling a trojan.

[@Mediados]

You can shorten that sentence. With all the shit going on, it is a wonder Activision hasn't been sued.

[@daniyarsadykov3385]

​@@Mediadosyou can shorten that sentence even more: I can't believe Bobby Kotick is still alive.

[@G433N_GUY]

Its more like they're selling you a house with a trojan-horse shaped doorway and no door

[@flamingscar5263]

Money, the US court system favors the rich, it would be an expensive and lengthy suit, only other companies can afford to sue Activision, were talking legal fees that reach into the millions, tens of millions even, to Activision thats the money they made in the time I've started typing this, but to us, thats more money then we'll make in our entire lifetimes combined, and sure when Activision loses they have to cover legal fees, but those fees have to be paid before the verdict of the suit is called, so its more so that Activision would be paying back what you spent, hell Microsoft probably debated suing Activision but decided it was more cost effective to buy them and fix this shit themselves, Microsoft already has fixed old CODs on Xbox Edit: I just thought of an example, Sony vs Bleem, this was a lawsuit about emulation, and despite Bleem winning, the team still had to declare bankruptcy because the suits lasted so long they ran out of money Bleem may have won legally, Sony won financially, the same would be true for anyone who even dared touch activision, even if you won the suit, Activision would still win financially, burning every cent you have, making an example out of you "this is what happens if you fuck with us, even if you win the suit, you will lose everything you hold dear, be left in finical ruin, we still win, no matter what" the US court system is designed to keep the rich strong and the working class weak

[@TheStonewall117]

I’m guessing no one remembers agreeing to the terms and conditions page in damn near every video game? It’s a very shitty practice, but I’m willing to bet there’s some fancy lawyer lingo in there that states they can basically do whatever they want and they are immune to repercussions in there if you agree to it.

[@chipstick3856]

Nobody except a rival company or the government could actually sue Activision. Companies like these don’t conventionally win cases, they just stall until their opponent runs out of money and stops.

[@Journey_to_who_knows]

You always need an eccentric millionaire to back you up in life

[@mariuscatalin5982]

if you know the law you can always make your homework with a group of people if you know the law you can fight a lawsuit forever

[@daveraschke]

There's always a way to ruin someone's day 😊

[@markfreeman4727]

@@mariuscatalin5982 for every lawyer you have they have twenty plus depending on where you are and what judge you sit in front of, your case can be thrown out at anytime and told not to return on the judges whim here in the US justice goes to the highest bidder.

[@mariuscatalin5982]

​@@markfreeman4727you can always try a higher court Even in USA justice still works on higher courts And that's just usa In Europe consumer protection DOES NOT FUCK AROUND many think that the legal battle with apple was some sort of struggle It wasn't

[@ArchaicJallboy]

I remember being the victim of an exploit on 2009 mw2 multiplayer. I killed a guy and that immediately crashed my game and took me directly to the menu to uninstall the entire game in just one click. Stay classy Activision.

[@The_Cylly]

talk about salty gamers.

[@HeisenbergFam]

50:57 "do me a favor, dont buy it on PC" as someone who never planned to buy it, I see this as an absolute win

[@TM2TL]

I already bought it & is it only MP that's the issue?

[@sayorb1876]

@@TM2TL mp has the issues and single player is good idk about zombies but maybe is also hacked and not safe to play. ps. I only know that bo3 zombies are fucked.

[@MemeSource.]

"PC has more players than console"

[@Fakan]

Considering the reputation online shooters have for cheaters, I would never go PC for any of these games. Doesn't mean there's no cheaters on console, but the bar to entry is much higher, with the cheater running the risk of having their paid online account closed.

[@redline841]

​@@Fakan PC is too comfy for me to use, plus I don't like dual analog anymore after MWII spoiled me with gyro aim.

[@amphibic_boi]

Hearing DK explain something in a very serious and professional manner is not something we’re used to

[@WildWolfGod]

Honestly, it absolutely threw me off. He's typically such a lil guy.

[@Randomlad56]

@@WildWolfGod “I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.”

[@yojo8667]

@@WildWolfGodYeah, just a lil guy.

[@LiteraltrashcanTT]

​@yojo8667 like, he's not a big guy at all. He's just a lil guy.

[@Nickname-ef9tv]

@@LiteraltrashcanTT He's so small!

[@blookester6583]

That one guy who played IW with you guys and came back to his PC being controlled by somebody else is honestly pretty fucking terrifying

[@Mightypickles]

I dont understand why Activision won't use steams built-in warning system. It makes a big red box on the store page with a quick description on what's broken

[@twicedeadmage]

Why would them? Not saying that is broken makes them money.

[@craigkuhlman6869]

I think you described why they don't.

[@acat6145]

They don’t care

[@FraddyFezbaer]

that or they just do an ubisoft and shut down the entire online

[@AnotherSkeletor]

I heard that they prey at night, and that they stalk at night, and that they're the rats.

[@madeofgrease9220]

And there’s a big rat that makes all the rules, and they try to find what trouble they can get into.

[@stormyprawn]

@@madeofgrease9220 A giant rat, some would say.

[@2Siders]

It a shame the original creator went on a killing spree

[@Arassar]

Bricky, Activision possibly pulling the games from Steam is NOT worse than the situation we have right now. The situation we have right now is ACTIVISION IS KNOWINGLY SELLING A DANGEROUS PRODUCT. If Activision pulled the product, it would be BETTER FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED. We SHOULD legally challenge them. We SHOULD force them to take such a drastic action. Maybe it would draw enough attention to actually make them change something.

[@Hailey_piggie]

It would be a shame to have the games disappear from storefronts, but I agree. It would remove the risk of people paying money to get their data stolen. Plus there are of course other ways of getting these games, and there will be no incentive for Activision to destroy years of work on modded clients if they're not selling it... Right? (It'd absolutely still be an Activision move to target them lmao)

[@phoenixvance6642]

Wonder if that's even possible seeing as players agree to a TOS that im 99% sure says you cant sue them if playing the game compromises/damages you or your computer

[@Bricky]

I agree with that, my point was more along the lines of allowing the modded clients to continue being played. Pulling it all would remove that option as well. Neither option I’m happy with

[@Darca1n]

@@phoenixvance6642 TOSes also usually contain all sorts of stuff that's more of a deterrence than actually legally binding. Or in other words, usually not really legally enforceable in a lot of cases.

[@ladywaffle2210]

@@Darca1n It has been proven in court that agreeing to the Terms of Service is not the same as a waiver and TOSes are not legally binding

[@claymor3513]

The chest crushing anxiety I felt as Bricky EDGED my brain to think I was about to watch a Nord VPN sponsor during the entire RAT explanation

[@ErebosGR]

FYI, VPNs don't do shit against RAT attacks, or any RCE attack for that matter.

[@Fakan]

@@ErebosGR I'd ask why, but I think the answer would go over my head almost as much as the rest of the technical stuff in the video did.

[@Knaeckebrotsaege]

@@Fakan to put it simple: a VPN can be seen as a tunnel through another country (if you choose to pick another country, can be the same one as you're in to limit high-ping issues and lag etc). The "problem" is that the end point is still your PC, so it doesn't help to circumvent anything that connects your PC to others. Like taking a detour on a highway on the way home. You still end up at your home, even if the route is different and happens to go through another country

[@antoniotrivelloni8191]

@@Knaeckebrotsaege Thank you, smart code man

[@lumisussy]

So thankful for that segment, more people need to know how cute and useful rats are.

[@shallowhound2751]

I don't play first person shooters, let alone COD but hearing all of these issues is really heartbreaking. These games were BUILT on the backs of its multiplayer mode, it's what made the series go on so long as it has, it's the series biggest selling point - and yet that can all be revoked with a blink of an eye, doomed to become abandoned media. Again, it's just really sad, and ever more the reason for game preservation and game unionization.

[@Kaiju_Roo]

good job making a public service announcement about this horrible security issue. sent this to my friends who plays these games

[@a.parker7362]

RIP to Ender, no one should have to go through such a scare during what is meant to be a chill night with your buddies

[@dasji2]

Was it somone in the group? Im still curious if someone in the server may of done this.

[@blueflare3848]

What happened?

[@Robrono]

@@blueflare3848They're referring to Ender's mouse moving on its own after the custom lobby games, though the current theory is that the issue was due to a Plate Up mod.

[@Aksuloid]

@@dasji2 I'm one of the people in the group (The guy who complained about shotguns sucking ass on the map, and then getting immediately katanad by Bricky). We managed to figure out a couple days after this video went live that cod wasn't the source of Ender getting hacked, he had downloaded a mod for a different (singleplayer) game with a virus in it. There was never any worry of the culprit being someone from the playgroup. It's basically a tightly knitted group of people on Brickys discord server, that Bricky occasionally pops into for games if he needs footage or something. While yes, people can turn out to be assholes, there is a level of trust in that group that I would be genuinely shocked if one of them were to pull something like this on the rest of us. Hell, Bricky literally talked with us about this video during production, so everyone who did play, were aware of the risk. Our main worry actually was that there were 2 people who are massive Black Ops players in the lobby, so maybe they were hacked, and their machines were spreading malware without their knowledge. But like I said, we found out it wasn't from cod, and was simply unlucky timing. At the end of the day, they didn't get into anything important on Enders machine, and there was essentially no damage done beyond some time lost, and a stressful as hell workday for the poor guy, as he had to leave for work before being able to do anything about it.

[@EnderCobra]

Can vouch for what @aksuloid said. Shit sucked :l I'm fine, but I was at work shitting bricks for a few hours til I could get home and install antivirus.

[@electricboogaloo8615]

I was never ready for the rats.

[@BearWithAnUzi]

Yes yes man things never realize the superiority of the Skaven-rat

[@Waddedupnapkin]

Rats? Rats make me…Crazy.

[@Azzie420]

@@WaddedupnapkinCrazy? I was crazy once

[@romania5106]

@@BearWithAnUziYes yes YEEEEESS

[@u.s.s.r.1347]

​@@Azzie420They locked me in a room😔

[@CriticalNobody]

So the overall message of this hour long video is to make more Devil Kotick photoshops?

[@mrcrowthebird9836]

Ye

[@baddragonite]

Steam should add a specific alert that pops up when players flag an online game as "Safe" or "UNsafe"

[@pwl2992]

Fucking Activision. Not even warning their customers about security issues

[@bluprint27]

More people need to see this. This is so important not only to CoD fans but to the videogame industry in general. This is like the Emperor revealing himself to mankind at the end of the Age of Strife.

[@intuitionedits2.032]

Warhammer right? (Sorry. I have like a limited knowledge of it but am planning on getting into it more)

[@thisgoddamusernamestoodamnlong]

in what way?

[@schmlondaysxd9504]

based

[@rabl3535]

@@intuitionedits2.03240k to be precise

[@intuitionedits2.032]

@rabl3535 cool. I have a few of the 40k books. My favorite by far is about the Blood Angels lol

[@limpkola]

Hearing M3rk in this was like an aluminum baseball bat straight to the stomach, but it’s a very sentimental and nostalgic aluminum baseball bat.

[@iCookCrystalMeth]

bung 😏

[@mobius5206]

What was that game your profile pic was from called again??

[@thetaminus2334]

Same here brotha

[@mmorpgkitty]

@@mobius5206 His pfp is from a game called Flow

[@raidengoodman8754]

Merk was quite literally my favorite youtuber for years. Would rewatch his videos constantly

[@captaintoast4675]

I always knew I was a rat. Thanks Bricky for opening my eyes

[@Brother_O4TS]

Yes-yes

[@mickthick6170]

rat I was rat once

[@kingbooomer9231]

Charles E. Cheese sends his regards 🐁

[@hyperdimensionalcenturion4628]

@@Brother_O4TS I was going to ask if that was A skaven reference, then i saw your name and realised I have found my people

[@shovel662]

@@kingbooomer9231it’s Charles E. Cheese III. The first one died in the war. Show some respect!

[@GuilhermeMGG]

35:06 Btw, BO2 was costing 120R$ last year (equivalent to 60 Dollars in 2012), now that cost 270R$ (60 Dollars in 2024)... Our minimal wage is 1300R$. 21%!!! OF OUR MINIMAL WAGE FOR A RATTED GAME FROM 2012.

[@GuilhermeMGG]

... And they close SA servers in 2015.

[@IcedLance]

It's actually pretty hard to turn IP address into a physical street address. You can think of it as a phone number. Just your IP or a phone number can tell a person your rough area at best (country code + area code). To get your exact address they would need to rely on data leaked from your ISP, and ISPs have decent security, so unless they know someone they can bribe to get the data (let's be fair, it's not that easy to do), they are unlikely to trace you by your IP.

[@ChickenJoe-tq6xd]

And even if they did get your address it’s literally a basement dweller that won’t do anything lol

[@Fiishe]

I just wanna point out probably the saddest thing about this is how it started in the first place. There is someone out there who put their time and effort into making game unnjoyable for someone else JUST because they get a kick out of someone else's misery. That person could've gone to code and develop something for people to actually enjoy and instead they use their skills to bring agony.

[@DamianRavenhold]

Im honestly suprised Bricky didnt bring up how the old CoD games are fixed on Xbox only after the merger went through. It proves that not only is it possible they can fix it but that it is hilariously easy considering how quick the update happened after the FTC case was settled

[@Brian-tn4cd]

I wouldn't say that it was easy, if i had to bet money, as soon as the merger was a real possibility a task force was made to fix these things, you dont have your new boss meet you in a crumbling house that you neglected to maintain, so people quickly did these things to impress so that theyre not suddenly in the inevitable people purge

[@timon1065]

the " mouse moving by its own " gave me chills . Because these situations made me study computer engineering , because i was this afraid of these situations . ( also hifi rush when?)

[@EnderCobra]

How do you think I FELT ABOUT IT. (I now have MalwareBytes on my computer)

[@Kolapsoid]

This quote! You really are great at writing man! "Things like this remind us all that video games are becoming products of the here and now. The only games that will stand the test of time are single-player story games. The inevitability of a live service title is death. The servers will eventually shut down and all the money you put in the CoD Warzone, Apex Legends and everything in between ends up meaning squat. It also shows that when it comes down to it and decision is either player security or the bottom line, these types of companies will choose the dollar every single time."

[@Darkgun231]

Man, Activision sucks. How anybody still willingly gives them money is beyond me.

[@mercenarygundam1487]

A sucker is born every second.

[@Aestareth_]

Because people want to play COD because there's a severe multiplayer FPS drought.

[@oyeh8908]

Sekiro was published by Activision, so that's one of the few things they did right.

[@dad5088]

​@@oyeh8908something something broken clocks

[@mgk-metalgearkelly5054]

When Activision becomes the law, piracy becomes duty.

[@aidreinhorn1534]

I am almost certain that you could sue Activision at this point.

[@Fakan]

You could, but the law generally favors the wealthy and powerful, regardless of what's right or codified.

[@MydasAU]

Many have

[@lumoneko299]

@@FakanThat’s what they want you to think to discourage you from defending yourself from exploitation.

[@thetimer1985]

@@lumoneko299 this is true

[@Travelling_Heart15]

​@@lumoneko299we could get counter sued for defamation or something, or a new law gets passed to make sure we get counter sued if we do.

[@jasonbuchanan7042]

Poor DK probably thought he was going to read about The Skaven when Bricky asked him to "read about these rat guys in gaming."

[@norinori6414]

This is pretty much some of the most solid journalism I've listened to in a long while, well done, sir.

[@FizzyFizze]

I never knew about the RATS in older COD titles. I played a couple pub matches in BO3 last summer and I'm very glad that I didn't run into any malicious person. I'm glad I'm aware of this now

[@Scrimbus_Ross]

This has no right being this good and informative. Honest to god, you killed it Bricky

[@JVLY]

What's makes all this so much more frustrating is that they can't say they don't have the resources to fix these issues when the folks who made those clients have already made the infrastructure to get them working safely. While we don't know the end goal, Rockstar recently acquiring 5M is a promising move for the community because, ideally, they could get direct support from Rockstar to better their RP service. Imagine a perfect world where Activison brought in Xlabs and said, "OK, we have all studios current on projects, but if you want to maintain the online services for Legacy titles, you can have it." Considering how the player base for the older titles ballooned after the servers got lightly patched up on consoles, there is clearly a market there.

[@ipanesm]

The thing they don't seem to get is that their fan base actually shifted during the years, most folks that were their consumers a decade aren't really now, and that allowing them to play the older titles again might shift them into trying the new ones too. IF they allowed proyects like xlabs in collaboration with like, keep the microtransactions, they would make money, and the community would be happy, literally win win

[@Sebastianbaraj5]

35:32 This is why I subbed to you. You shine the light on issues/opinions that we seem to have quite a bit in common and it makes me really happy. Someone actually gives a "Rats" ass. This video is for that "Dad gamer" that wants to simply relive his early video game memories. I'm not a dad but I can't thank you enough bricky for doing what you do in hopes that we can someday safely go back to playing old CODs. Also Infinite Warfare WAS absolutely underrated and looking back I was too occupied with the Behemoth launch of Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 all around the same time. I do kick myself at times for not giving it more love.

[@darealrylocke6531]

It makes even more sense when you realize most of 40ks fan base really is the "dad gamer" kind of people, cause for the most part that's who can afford it. And it's that same people who wanna replay these cods that get affected by this. So it comes full circle.

[@Nick-rs5if]

I've been the victim of an RCE attack years ago, leaving my Steam account with a permanent VAC-ban on it. I haven't played a CoD game ever since. I'm not dealing with that headache again.

[@drtokubuns]

One of the most smoothbrain things i dont understand is spending 100+ dollars on skins in a first person game

[@TheJewishAzovMember]

It's mostly children using their parents credit card that's already on the Xbox for playing for Xbox live

[@Arassar]

Activision will never acknowledge it, because that will be admitting culpability and open them to huge liability.

[@breadeater123]

This honestly might be one of the best videos you've ever made

[@formerctgovernordannelmall1452]

Thank you for addressing all of this Bricky. I was incredibly worried for you when I saw you playing COD on public lobbies (as far as I was aware) without a client in one of your recent uploads The fact that you have to warn people not to go online in the store bought version of a game without downloading a third party client, and that game CONSISTENTLY gets promoted and put on sale by Activision, is borderline flagrant negligence of consumer safety. You could literally get your entire system taken over just because you trusted that Activision wouldn’t put you at such horrible risk with this product they’re promoting to you

[@midlaynr4546]

I've been watching you on and off ever since your "So you want to Main" series. Always a treat when KZbin decides to show you on my feed. Keep chugging along king

[@anonimus370]

Shitting on Bobby "wish he was in prison" Kottik is my religion.

[@KevinSmile]

Theres no way they can't be sued for selling dangerous products when they are aware that its dangerous.

[@CErra310]

Bliz has money. Laws don't apply to them

[@Jev]

PERFECT

[@epyons8411]

Comment too low we need to get it higher

[@TheKirBoi]

Now there's a face I didn't expect to see.

[@vicjctanuki7344]

Real, cod is unkillable

[@toastybread0413]

I just wanted to point out that this video solidifies the fact that DKDiamantes truly is the Rat expert, and knowing one of AdRic's current goals is for him to discuss the Skaven to Bricky is even funnier now after watching this

[@AK_-xn1fm]

I never realized in the past why kids on comms screamed about “I’ll ddoss you, I’ll find where you live through your IP” and all those threats. I kinda get it now. Still all of it were empty threats anyway lol.

[@TreeloPlays]

Bro thank you for talking about this I've been feeling like a broken record trying to tell people about this and a lot of them don't believe me, and it's crazy to me that the games are all still at positive reviews on steam store page. These games are not safe to play on PC and never will be knowing activision.

[@muertolamento]

Getting someone like Merkmusic in this video was a really good choice, he's been with the series since COD4 and has stuck with it through some of the toughest years for the series.

[@joepetrelli5940]

This was absolutely fascinating. I do not care about COD and I know nothing about hacking, but the delivery, writing and animations of this video was like watching a Netflix Documentary. Except if the documentary was written, directed, and produced by a bro. 10/10

[@ipanesm]

When bricky makes an hour+ length video about something he's passionate about, you know it's gonna be good

[@andrewpan5014]

This is a genuinely great explanation of cod and rats and this kind of stuff. Loved the DK tunnel metaphor

[@fanatical1227]

Crazy I got recommended this video with the events that happened today, good shit Bricky

[@GuiGamer69420]

Now I gotta go on the way back machine and see if and when the multi-player tag was removed or if it was never there to begin with Imagine the hacker of your private match was just Gabe himself seeing if the games were still exploitable and removed the tags after he confirmed it

[@alexs9514]

REALLY reminds me of the Titanfall situation with unplayable matches and needing the use of clients to bypass people. Not necessarily lose you data level like this, but still very similar.

[@intoHeck1964]

I say it is better to have these games pulled than to have them not get fixed and continue to put people at risk. Sucks to see them go but it would be better

[@MsZsc]

idk if they're sold elsewhere, but i don't know if steam can pull their hand. Luckily recent reviews in steam was where i iirc first heard of these so that may be a warning to people. Also luckily i played cod6 in 2019 a bit to try it out instead.

[@BlackTestament7]

Three things that I find super wild about this: 1. Microsoft has apparently pushed for new servers for all the older cod games on 360/XBX. I wonder if they will fix this issue for PC. I highly doubt it with how MS does business but hopefully this does shift things in the better direction in the future. 2. The Engine breakdown is so wild because while I didn't know about the Quake to IW/T engines this feels so much like Bethesda and the Gambryo to Creation engine insanity. It makes me wonder because there hasn't been another guy like John Carmack in the games industry is the rehashing of engines just something that's gonna continue till the end of time. I'm sure there are other engines not like Unreal, Idtech, e.t.c. that will last the test of time but it's kinda weird you can probably draw ancestry lines to the majority of game engines to ones from way back when. With all the exploits and fuckery lying in wait in the code. 3. I am shocked no one has ever read those small print disclaimers on the back of boxes or the EULA/Private Policies of different games. Like Crash Team Racing's remake had a whole section mirroring Bethesda with Fallout 76 where they outright tell you you can be completely thrown off of a game at their discretion. Which for F76 is fucking insane because you can't play it offline. Maybe I'm wrong about all this but those were my takeaways.

[@MsZsc]

luckily source 1 was constantly upgraded and even Valve's first titles got support, in 2019 they updated a bug in half life 1 for example. So none of the RCE crap to this extent. Source 2 going forward fixes their headaches with a massively old engine's coding though

[@cwac5229]

As somebody born in 91 I was super excited for and loved how they handled infinite warfare particularly with expanding the campaign as well as how they handled multiplayer progression specifically in a way that was very atypical of their series.

[@CuriousLumenwood]

I could not for the life of me tell you why, but watching clips of Black Ops 2 in the background of this video fills with me so much nostalgia that it nearly brings me to tears. I’m not a big CoD fan anymore, but I played the SHIT out of Black Ops 2. Like, I got the diamond camo for nearly every gun type. At LEAST a thousand hours were spent playing the game with friends I haven’t spoken to in a decade after school which I haven’t even seen in that long as well. It’s good memories.

[@christianedwards9025]

I did as well, and one day some upset hacker reverted me to a level 1, and took away everything I ever earned in less time than it takes for me to fart. All that hard work just...gone, my only proof is a few screenshots and clips. I still miss BO2 and would go back to it, if they ever made anti-cheat that worked.

[@ipanesm]

Same, i got diamond for every gun (except special xategory) like thrice, it was my life for at least three years

[@christianedwards9025]

@@ipanesm right! Learned all the maps, the good spots to hide, counter, sneak up on peeps.

[@mitch6254]

Bricky! Thanks for covering this issue. I know that I should talk about the issues with CoD, but I do want to commend you for saying something nice about rats! I've been adopting them for a few years now and try to help dispel the stigma they have. It makes me happy to see people talk about them without disgust, even if it's for a joke.

[@SHWAWSH]

What a cool-ly random comment

[@OSAlula]

My sister had pet rats, they were really cute. They also have huge balls.

[@neoizileth2832]

This is probably your best video, Bricky. Props, seriously, this was so good.

[@trevanminnig3499]

I’m only 5 minutes in, but I’m SO GLAD people are starting to recognize IW wasn’t a bad game. I picked it up a few years late on a super cheap sale (IIRC $5-$10?), and loved it. I hated feeling like no one took me seriously when talking about Ghosts and AW when they released, because I was considered too young to have any opinions, but everyone around me kept telling me how stale CoD had become, and how they wanted “new” and “fresh,” and so CoD Ghosts was in a futuristic setting with new killstreaks and such, as well as extinction being an alternative to zombies, AW and BO3 had the jump packs, etc., and were more futuristic and had new movement, etc. CoD tried new things, like people wanted, then the same people asking for change were upset with the changes. That’s fine, you don’t have to like the new stuff, but credit where it’s due, they tried new stuff and it didn’t work. Why be upset about them trying new ideas, though?

[@PoorEdward]

So many gaming companies need to face legal repercussions.

[@Toowestadam]

Thank you for making this video, too many people dont know about this issue and it needs more publicity.

[@rYuNoCommentary]

thanks for linking me in your video!!!

[@HawkeGamerGaming]

There is the option to report a product on Steam. I think we should "report bomb" the older cods to AT LEAST Steam do something about them, even if it is just a few changes on their store page to be in more accordance with the actual state of the game, but we can not just stand by as this happens. This is CRIMINAL. The industry has been increasingly stepping on the consumer in detriment to corporative gains and what they believe is a "sucessful product". This can only go so far until we get to a breaking point.

[@elielc.8459]

Surprised that you're the first one to mention this. I think that most people forgot or just aren't aware the feature even exists on the steam store.

[@MUSiCK9]

@@elielc.8459 Your right. I seen that flag god knows how many times and never thought to even use the damn thing.

[@thepimpingamer2455]

Coming back years later and hearing Bricky talk about how MCC was great at the time makes me die inside. Now HALO MCC is unplayable due to hackers in all the playlists taking control of your character and booting you from the game. How the years have gone by....

[@spectrumgamer21YT]

I tried playing Halo Master Chief Collection after a year on PC and it says I couldn’t even log in along with failed to connect to XBOX Live servers. It sucked while loading a lot

[@imDezrt]

24:33 false dichotomy here--sm2 devs went back on their word and started taking patreon donations. The BOIII client was also taking donations for early access. This is a clearly defined no-no when you're tinkering with someone else's IP. sm2 ALSO pushed their luck heavily when they switched from an older engine to the more recent MWR engine--in theory this shouldn't be a big deal but MWR is still fresh enough for Activision to get interested. Also....pretty much the entire lot of CoD fangame devs ignored the quintessential rule of modifying major IPs---SHUT UP until it's shipped! Everybody wanted their slice of credit for their efforts, which is commendable, but you save that for a legally above-board project where the success of your endeavor doesn't hinge upon some level of anonymity and flying under the radar. I've seen tons of fangames self-sabotaged by this dynamic.

[@S1lva139]

I do love it when Bricky goes on rants that involve the direct safty of a player base, and how scumy triple A has gotten, well done video man.

[@consano8653]

Normally I'm not one to comment one videos, but this one right here is different. Not only do I love Bricky and everything he does (Warhammer included), but this video is spectacular, phenomenal, absolutely astonishing. This video was made from a place of love, care, and nostalgia and fuelled by Gamer Supps and anger. Activision is in my opinion the worst game studio currently around and I am so happy to see, in the grand scheme of the internet, a smallish youtube putting in so much effort to call out this corruption, so on behalf of everyone in the gaming community thank you Bricky I watched every single second of this video and am leaving this comment in hopes that Mr. KZbin algorithm shows you the favor you deserve and spreads this video out to more people.

[@CoolMan215]

A thing to note about WaW that I don't think was mentioned was the fact that the steam keys for it are broke and the only way to get them to work is with plutonium

[@TheRealVen]

Thank you for getting this video out, I hope this gets millions of views and Activision changes, but one can only hope❤️💀

[@BudgiePanic]

Activision brings in hundreds of millions of dollars but they can't afford to pay 1 or 2 staff to go through and slowly fix all the security issues

[@TangentRecard]

from years gone, tf2, CoD and many others, the will to play will drive heroes to build playgrounds.

[@The_Fuse_Maestro11]

16:06 after he listed off those fan made COD games shut down. I knew Bricky was setting us up to watch him roast the most vile and disgusting ppl who shut them down for nothing but greed

[@bastiensaillens5183]

This video was absolutely great! Very useful for the public knowledge Imo, and you just checking if all of this stuff IS even legal is really showing how fucked up this is. Keep on these kind of videos, it's really awesome

[@caber2760]

why does nobody sue activison for negligence by this point? if they REFUESE to acknowlage it that would count as negligence

[@shoto42]

If we can't have functional games, then Bobby can't have a date, your move activision

[@Moonklias]

would be nice if there was some law that stated that if you pull a game from services that you can't get mad if there is a 3rd party revive

[@flyarmy7]

I recently felt like playing some of the older cods that i own on pc but before downloading i thought i would check the community reviews. I always knew older cods were full of hackers and had like 500 players on pc making the only kinda playable mode be tdm so i wasnt expecting much but those reviews really made me realise how big the problem was and im glad someone of your size is putting this problem on the forefront.

[@M0D776]

If the games are pulled and you can't buy them anymore, that would in theory mean that old CoDs become abandonware, thus making it safer to mod and make clients for them, that's just a theory though...

[@ItsRyanRoyce]

I’ve been playing CW since launch, and I can assure you these tools aren’t patched out. I play on Xbox and with crossplay on, I constantly get booted from games and have people giving me the “your content is damaged screen” prompting me to restart my game. So….They haven’t fixed anything lol.

[@hoenheim94]

An interesting note about MCCs role in the Halo environment, it seems to be playing a role in maintaining the Halo playerbase in the wake of broader dissatisfaction with Infinite. Players tend to bounce between the two games when they get tired of or fed up with Infinite, but frequently return to the game after playing MCC during the intermittant window

[@SirGrimly]

CoD players: "CoD is getting stall, something needs to change." Activision: *changes CoD* CoD players: "wtf are you doing?" Activision: "What you asked us to do..."

[@SirGrimly]

@@charlieparkerrr How can a futuristic game with guns that are physically incapable of existing in a modern era shooter and a movement system more akin to Titanfall than CoD be a copy of a remake? Seems like you are trying to make excuses for not liking Infinite Warfare that aren't just "This isn't my CoD." Especially when Infinite Warfare came out in 2016... THREE YEARS BEFORE SAID REMAKE!

[@aaashmoreee]

Bricky was a bit misleading with that bit unfortunately. Advanced Warfare had the same futuristic nonsense 2 years earlier, and a lot of the frustration with Infinite Warfare reveal was "oh god, they're doing that awful thing again." Thankfully IW was much better than AW but the COD fanbase had rightfully lost faith in the franchise to do "future" right.

[@SirGrimly]

@@aaashmoreee Doesn't change the fact that CoD tried something new after players complained about the series getting stale... only for the players to shit on the new thing before they even get their hands on it, shitty on it even more when they do (Bricky does briefly touch on AV and it's reception in the preamble... but his main focus was on IV) and the poor reception of this attempt to change the formula is likely one of the main contributors as to why all CoD games have looked and played the exact fucking same every since -_-

[@aaashmoreee]

COD games have looked and played the same as MW2019 because that game was good and Activision is desperately trying to recreate it's hype and buzz lol and again, AW was not a new formula, it was going backwards to something the community already decided they didn't like (except the pro scene but that's a bit different)

[@SirGrimly]

@@aaashmoreee Or maybe, the reason they refuse to make anything other than a MW2019 reskin is because they know, from experience, that CoD players won't buy anything that actually does something original and fresh... so why fucking bother? As Bricky mentioned, IV's horrible reception started before the game even came out... the trailer for the game (something that drops to hype up the release date) is one of the most disliked videos on youtube. People were telling Activision the game was gonna flop before they even had a chance to try it out. If that is the reaction they receive on something as creative and ambitious as IV... then they have absolutely no financial incentive to ever try something like that again. They would much rather let CoD die than take another gamble. This is becoming a trend with how many Blizzard games are trying to "go back to their roots" because the players are actively harassing them for trying something new (with WoW being the only game actually benefitting from this backwards direction imo)

[@SingularityEngine]

Great video, Bricky. I have fond memories of these games as a kid, and seeing the franchise left to rot by a greedy bunch of suits at Activision without regard for players or developers really feels like a kick in the guts. At the same time, amazing projects such as SM2 - which aims to fix these issues for the players on their own dollar - get taken down because the full-priced titles of old they are aiming to replace might get bought less and bring a little less to the table for the rich fucks up top.

[@Bossdude25]

Thank you Bricky for the amount of effort and thought put into this video. Someday they will listen

[@Philoso_Raptor_]

I my self would never have sat through an hour long video showing the state of this but this was a well put together and informative video I enjoyed it and I chuckled at a few bits. Sub well earned

[@DarciaSidTV]

Infinite Warfare still has one of the best COD single-player story campaign.

[@Prof.Hummbug]

This really needs to reach as many people as possible! Will definitely be sharing it with everyone I know that plays COD!

[@HistoryMonarch1999]

It’s still weird to think that IW and BO2 was seen as getting stale and they are really well liked now (bo2 is one of my fav and I like IW just needed some story changes)

[@muertolamento]

The story mode is the best fucking part though

[@Horgler]

The fatigue started with MW3, and it didn't help that it was the most copy and pasted mainline entry we ever got. Ever since then people began to fall off because of the annual release cycle. The perception of the early 2010s games only got more positive because the CoD4 to BO audience gradually got replaced by the kids that played MW3 to BOIII. The same thing will happen when the IW onward crowd begins to outnumber everyone else and we'll start to hear how Vanguard was actually the most underrated game in the franchise.

[@taku-ruki]

honestly, there should be laws arround that make it that if your game can be used to hack into another persons pc you should be held accountable just as much as the person comiting the act.

[@o.v.m._part_1]

2:56 COD players want some change -> COD changed -> players angy

[@cltruent]

So happy to see someone give some praise to Infinite Warfare. That game not only has one of the best stories in the franchise(if not the best behind bo2), but is incredibly layered and detailed in multiplayer and zombies. It is genuinely a huge shame that it just happened to come out at the worst time, and people decided to dogpile on it. It's easily in my top 5 cods, and I'd highly recommend you go back and play it if you were one of those people who decided to judge it beforehand. It is very much worth the experience.

[@josephrossow8901]

Holy shit. Had no idea this kind of thing was an issue. Thanks for making the video, Bricky.