After admitting that Call of Duty’s RICOCHET anti-cheat failed to properly protect legitimate Warzone accounts, Activision revealed a new plan to crack down on cheating in Black Ops 6.
Recently, rumors started circulating that an exploit allowed hackers to permanently ban CoD players even if they weren’t in the same lobby. Reports suggested that thousands of accounts were impacted by this security breach, but players didn’t know for sure.
Activision stepped forward and confirmed that RIOCHET anti-cheat disabled a workaround to a detection system in MW3 and Warzone that impacted a “small” number of legitimate accounts.
That explantation wasn’t enough to satisfy community members like content creator BobbyPoff who called out Activision for allowing them to have his name drug through the mud over an incorrect ban without a public or private apology.
To restore confidence ahead of Black Ops 6, Activision addressed cheating concerns.
“We can’t tell you cheaters will disappear forever because of the tech we’re preparing for launch,” Activision said. “But everyone at Team RICOCHET will use every tool we can to keep fighting to deliver a fair and fun experience for you!”
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Activision on the fan frustration with anti-cheat in Call of Duty: "We can’t tell you cheaters will disappear forever because of the tech we’re preparing for launch. But everyone at #TeamRICOCHET will use every tool we can to keep fighting to deliver a fair and fun experience… pic.twitter.com/xViwllZ1cl
— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) October 18, 2024
This public statement comes from a blog post going over RICOCHET anti-cheat improvements in Black Ops 6.
Activision shared a goal to catch and remove cheaters within one hour of them being in their first match. To accomplish this goal, the anti-cheat team announced new technology.
As a result, there are new ways to combat aim bots, improved accuracy of Ranked Play leaderboards, and faster cheater detection.
The BO6 beta was used as a live-test for the new technology, and Activision revealed that cheaters were able to complete around 10 multiplayer matches during the first beta weekend before being removed. After making tweaks, that was cut down to five matches in the second weekend.
In saying that, Activision still has a long way to go in recouping the support of fans as the CoD ban exploit might actually be much worse than previously stated.