Activision Tackles Call of Duty Cheating with New Anti-Cheat Measures and Crossplay Options
Activision has responded to widespread player concerns regarding cheating in Call of Duty's Black Ops 6 and Warzone, announcing significant updates to its anti-cheat strategy and offering console players in Ranked Play the option to disable crossplay with PC players.
The surge in cheating reports, particularly since the introduction of Ranked Play in Season 1 of Black Ops 6 and Warzone, has sparked considerable outrage within the community. Activision previously acknowledged shortcomings in its initial Ricochet Anti-Cheat implementation, stating that it fell short of expectations, especially in Ranked Play.
A recent blog post details Activision's 2025 anti-cheat roadmap. Key highlights include over 136,000 Ranked Play account bans issued since the mode's launch. Season 2 will introduce enhanced client-side and server-side detection systems, along with a major kernel-level driver update. Further advancements are promised for Season 3 and beyond, including a novel player authentication system designed to identify and target cheaters more effectively. Specific details on this new system are being withheld to prevent cheat developers from exploiting it.
A crucial short-term solution arriving with Season 2 is the ability for console players in Ranked Play to disable crossplay with PC players. This addresses the widely held belief that a significant portion of cheating originates on PC platforms. Console players have long utilized this crossplay disabling feature in standard Multiplayer modes, and now Ranked players will have the same option. Activision will monitor the impact of this change closely, leaving open the possibility of further adjustments to maintain competitive integrity.
While Activision's anti-cheat efforts are often met with skepticism from the community, the company has invested heavily in its Ricochet anti-cheat technology and actively pursues legal action against cheat developers, achieving several high-profile victories recently. Prior to Black Ops 6's launch, Activision aimed for a one-hour ban timeframe for detected cheaters. The game launched with an updated Ricochet kernel-level driver and improved machine-learning systems for faster detection and analysis of gameplay to counter aimbots.
Activision acknowledges the sophisticated nature of cheat developers, describing them as organized, profit-driven groups actively seeking vulnerabilities within the game's code. However, the company emphasizes that these developers inevitably leave traces of their actions, providing valuable clues for detection and removal.
