A dedicated gamer, b00lin, waged a 763-day legal battle against Activision to overturn an unwarranted Steam ban. Their arduous journey, meticulously documented in a blog post, highlights the lengths some players will go to defend their gaming reputations.
The ban stemmed from b00lin's participation in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 beta in December 2023, where they logged over 36 hours of gameplay. Initially dismissed as a technical glitch, Activision's refusal to lift the ban spurred b00lin into action.
Image: antiblizzard.win
Activision's staunch refusal to provide evidence of cheating, citing security protocols, even when faced with b00lin's request for seemingly innocuous details like the flagged software's name, proved to be their undoing.
The subsequent court case exposed Activision's lack of concrete evidence against b00lin. The court's decision, favoring b00lin and ordering Activision to cover legal fees and lift the ban, finally came in early 2025, underscoring the importance of due process even in the realm of online gaming. The case reveals Activision's extreme commitment to anti-cheat secrecy, a commitment that, in this instance, backfired.