Call of Duty Pro Player Nero Banned from Black Ops 7 Ranked Over Boosting Service

Call of Duty professional player Dylan 'Nero' Koch has been banned from Call of Duty Black Ops 7 ranked, the player announced on X on September 24, 2026. Koch, 24, has competed professionally for eight years and most recently played for Vancouver Surge in the Call of Duty League from April to August 2026.

Activision has not officially stated the reason for the ban. However, the Call of Duty community quickly connected it to Koch's Black Ops 7 boosting service, which he advertised publicly on X on September 17, 2026. His post promoting the service, which offered to boost player ranks for payment, remains live on the platform.

Ranked boosting directly violates Activision's Terms of Service. Section 3.C.i explicitly prohibits users from engaging in "any form of cheating, boosting, or booting." Call of Duty's Security and Enforcement Policy also bans the practice. Account transfers, sales, rentals, and leasing are similarly prohibited under the ToS.

When community members pointed to the boosting service as the likely cause, Koch responded "wrong guy" on social media, which generated widespread confusion and criticism. One X user responded, "Genuinely curious how you can or plan to openly sell boosts (a bannable offense) on Twitter lol the same platform you tag cod on to get unbanned from what you expect is a false ban." Another noted that Koch's original boosting advertisement remained visible, providing clear evidence to enforcement teams.

Reddit responses were similarly skeptical. One user sarcastically wrote, "They got the wrong guy! I was the one actually selling boosting services, I just hacked Neros account so he could take the fall." Community debate touched on whether boosting was more or less severe than other forms of cheating like wallhacks or aimbots, though most acknowledged the practice remains explicitly against the terms of service.