Activision has taken significant steps to address the rampant issue of cheating in the *Call of Duty* community, particularly in *Black Ops 6* and *Warzone*. In response to widespread complaints, the company has confirmed plans to allow console Ranked players to disable crossplay with PC players, aiming to create a fairer competitive environment.
Cheating became a major concern following the introduction of Ranked Play in *Black Ops 6* and *Warzone* with the launch of Season 1 last year. Many hardcore fans have expressed frustration over the apparent high number of cheaters, which they believe undermines the integrity of competitive multiplayer. Activision faced criticism for not doing enough to combat the problem.
Last month, Activision's Team Ricochet, the unit in charge of its *Call of Duty* anti-cheat technology, acknowledged that their efforts fell short at the launch of Season 1. "After a series of updates our systems are in a better place today across all modes; however, we did not hit the mark for the integration of Ricochet Anti-Cheat at the launch of Season 01 — particularly for Ranked Play," the company admitted.
In a recent blog post, Activision outlined its strategy to tackle cheating in *Call of Duty* throughout 2025. Since the launch of Ranked Play, over 136,000 accounts have been banned. Season 2, set to start soon, will introduce enhanced client and server-side detection systems, along with a significant kernel-level driver update. Looking ahead to Season 3 and beyond, Activision promises "a multitude of new tech," including a novel system to authenticate legitimate players and specifically target cheaters. However, the company chose not to reveal detailed specifics to avoid giving cheat developers an advantage.
With the imminent launch of Season 2, Activision will enable console players to opt-out of crossplay in *Black Ops 6* and *Warzone* Ranked Play, allowing them to compete solely against other console players. This move is in response to the belief that cheating is more prevalent on PC, and console players have long disabled crossplay in standard Multiplayer. Now, Ranked players will also have this option.
"We'll be monitoring closely and will consider further changes to prioritize the integrity of the ecosystem, and we’ll have more details to share as we get closer to the launch of this feature," Activision stated.
Despite these efforts, skepticism persists among the *Call of Duty* community regarding Activision's anti-cheat measures. Cheating is not exclusive to *Call of Duty*, but it has become a significant issue for Activision since the launch of the free-to-play battle royale *Warzone* in 2020. The company has invested heavily in its anti-cheat technology and has pursued legal action against cheat developers, achieving several notable victories recently.
In anticipation of *Black Ops 6*'s launch, Activision aimed to remove cheaters from the game within one hour of their first match. *Black Ops 6* and *Warzone* were released with an updated version of Ricochet's kernel-level driver, incorporating new machine-learning behavioral systems designed to quickly detect and analyze gameplay to combat aim bots.
"The people behind cheats are organized, illegal groups that pick apart every piece of data within our games to look for some way to make cheating possible," Activision explained. "These bad guys are not just some script kiddies poking around with code they found online. They are a collective who profit from exploiting the hard work of game developers across the industry."
"But cheat developers are flawed (clearly — they have to pretend to be good at video games). Every time they cheat, they leave breadcrumbs behind. We’re always looking for those breadcrumbs to find the bad actors and get them out of the game," the company concluded.
