This COD Cheating Investigation Raised More Questions Than Answers

In recent times, cheating has been a huge source of contention when it comes to the "Call of Duty" series. "Call of Duty: Vanguard" had a huge problem with cheaters using a litany of exploits during the game's beta phase. Following its launch, the state of the game seemingly forced some pros to cheat in order to remain on a level playing field. The series has had to implement new anti-cheat software and threaten those caught with being banned from the entire franchise, but the multiple developers behind the different "Call of Duty" titles still have had problems with staying ahead of the cheaters.

One of the latest examples of a high-profile cheating scandal within the franchise pertains to Shifty, a top "Call of Duty Warzone" player with professional ambitions who was recently accused of cheating during a "Warzone" tournament worth $100,000 (clip via Dexerto). 

In order to clear his name, esports organization NRG — in conjunction with Full Squad Gaming and Jake Lucky — recently made Shifty the offer to bring him out for an independent investigation in which the player would be subject to an observation while playing, as well as a lie detector test. Shifty ultimately agreed to this process. But instead of clearing his name, the lie detector test only led to more controversy.

After being observed while playing multiple games, Shifty then had to undero a lie detector test conducted by John Grogan, an expert who was billed as a respected figure in the polygraph field and has participated on shows such as "Dr. Phil". However, past reports have indicated Grogan is not a legitimate polygraph operator and have questioned the validity of his work. Grogan has contested these claims, but, as noted by BBB Gaming News, his participation led to many of the stream's viewers to start calling that out on social media and in chat.

In response to these allegations, the stream was abruptly terminated before the results of Shifty's lie detector test could be disclosed. In a follow-up, Full Squad Gaming co-founder Jake Lucky took to Twitter to say that due to the controversy, the results of Shifty's polygraph would not be disclosed. 

"At the end of the day I did not feel comfortable sharing those results and I think that was the right call," Jake Lucky said in a Twitter post. "Thank you all so much who came out because beyond that big blunder that was so much fun for me. More important updates coming tomorrow."

The accuracy and validity of polygraph tests have long been scrutinized, which has even led to them being inadmissible in cases that go to court (per Law info). And so, the saga of Shifty continues.