Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 players who like checking in on their in-game stats haven’t been able to do so after changes to the game’s API prevented stats from being tracked, but Activision said the effect is only temporary.
Many games let third parties utilize their APIs to allow stat-tracking sites and applications to be created, and Black Ops 4 is no exception. Kills, wins, and other statistics are tracked using these programs, but without access to the API, the tracking comes to an end.
That’s what’s happened with Black Ops 4 recently after the game’s API was changed and stats could no longer be tracked. For many players such as one who brought awareness to the problem on Reddit and received a response from Activision, tracking individual performance is more important than other facets of the game like cosmetics and other extra content. The player’s post which was spotted first by Charlie Intel alleged that Activision had intentionally changed the API to either pave the way for a paid API subscription service or simply to block people from seeing the number of active users.
Activision responded to that post and said the changes were actually made to “further safeguard the privacy of individual’s game data” and that the restrictions were only temporary. Fixes will be coming soon to restore access to those who plan on using the improved API, Activision said.
“We recently made changes to the Call of Duty stats API to further safeguard the privacy of individual’s game data based on requests from players,” Activision said in response to the player’s thread. “This change temporarily restricts access to 3rd party websites and apps until we’re able to roll out an improved API to allow 3rd parties to work with game data in a way that also gives players greater control over their own privacy. Enhancements will be available in the coming weeks.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 recently rolled out its update that released a new Operation for all platforms including more game modes and balance changes.
