In an amusing turn of events, DICE’s Core Gameplay Designer for Battlefield 5, Florian Le Bihan, appears to have been banned in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The Battlefield 5 developer Tweeted at both Treyarch and Treyarch PC yesterday, asking them to rescind what seems to be an unfair ban.

Battlefield 5 Developer Asks Treyarch to Rescind His Ban

Le Bihan doesn’t appear to know exactly why his account was banned in the newly-released first-person shooter. After reaching out with his first Tweet, he posted a video of his own gameplay footage; “Please find attached to this tweet (below),” he says; “a great video of me killing some other players on #BlackOps4. Accept this as a token of my appreciation towards your game (please unban).”

Dear @Treyarch (also @TreyarchPC), Please find attached to this tweet (below) a great video of me killing some other players on #BlackOps4. Accept this as a token of my appreciation towards your game (please unban). P.S: Sorry for the bad edit, I know.https://t.co/grR2HreD20 — Florian – DRUNKKZ3 (@DRUNKKZ3) October 23, 2018

Unfortunately, the screen which Le Bihan posted a picture of, which shows the game informing him that his account has been banned, doesn’t list the reason for the ban. Le Bihan seems to believe that the ban could be accidental… and even related to his excellent performance. Given that the developer is a former professional player, it’s easy to see why. It could be that the game is assuming that high-performing players are somehow cheating by analysing their performance stats, accuracy, or some other factor, especially as new players rapidly establish stats like K/D ratios.

Some other players’ responses to the developer’s Tweet note that they too had got unfair bans. It’s unknown whether this is perhaps a bug or other issue following the game’s recent launch; it’s certainly possible. Fortunately, the Battlefield 5 developer seems to be taking it in good humour. Hopefully, Treyarch will be able to resolve the issue swiftly. Le Bihan’s own first-person shooter title, Battlefield 5, is due to release in a month’s time. It would certainly be ironic if it suffers from a similar issue when it launches, and it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising. Battlefield 1 actually had a similar error when it first launched.