Activision has gone full Terminator on Call of Duty cheaters, dropping over 228,000 bans since Black Ops 6 launched—some before the guilty even see a loading screen, talk about instant karma. Their “Team RICOCHET” team uses everything from kernel-level anti-cheat tech to legal threats aimed at both players and cheat-makers. Sure, some cheaters still slip through, but serious mass bans, smarter detection, and hardware tracking have put hackers on notice—wonder what tricks are left up their sleeves?
Persistence—it’s a word that sums up Activision’s ongoing battle against Call of Duty cheaters, a struggle as relentless as some players’ aim-bot headshots. Since the launch of Black Ops 6, Team RICOCHET, Activision’s anti-cheat task force, has handed out over 228,000 bans. That’s not a typo—hundreds of thousands of accounts, gone. About 23% of those cheaters didn’t even get to see a loading screen before being kicked out. Talk about not letting people have their moment.
RICOCHET isn’t just about slapping bans. It’s a layered system, mixing server-side tools, analytics, and some seriously clever behavioral detection models. These systems keep an eye out for things like suspicious accuracy (hello, aim bots) and weird player patterns. They’ve even started using hardware IDs to catch serial cheaters, those folks who think buying a new account is a clever workaround. Spoiler: it’s not. The kernel-level driver used by RICOCHET operates only while the game is running, providing deep monitoring of applications to identify unauthorized processes and protect against sophisticated cheats.
Ranked Play, known for its sweaty lobbies and competitive drama, has seen over 136,000 account bans. That’s a lot of players who won’t be making those “totally legit” comebacks. While Activision says these efforts are protecting the integrity of the game, some in the community remain skeptical—after all, cheaters seem as persistent as patch notes. Notably, over 20 cheat makers and dozens of resellers have shut down since Black Ops 6 launched, showing that Activision’s crackdown is reaching beyond just in-game punishments.
The tech side keeps evolving. Updated detection models, cross-examination tools to speed up account actions, and smarter spam reporting all help keep the playing field cleaner. There’s even a focus on server stability and packet loss, because nothing says “fair game” like a smooth connection. The combination of AI moderation with human review ensures that context is considered when evaluating potential cheating cases.
Legal action? Absolutely. Activision is taking cheaters and cheat makers to court, trying to disrupt not just in-game cheating, but the entire underground cheat economy. It’s a big move, but is it enough? The response is mixed. Some players cheer RICOCHET’s updates, while others remain unconvinced, sure that somewhere, someone is still wallhacking their way up the leaderboard.
Activision, for its part, keeps the lines of communication open, posting regular updates and encouraging players to report suspicious behavior. Whether this crusade will ever fully stamp out cheating remains to be seen, but for now, the war rages on—one ban at a time.