Call of Duty anti-cheat torn apart by Valorant dev as hackers run rampant

Cheating in Call of Duty continues to ruin casual and competitive Black Ops 6 matches much to the annoyance of players loading into the action. Whether it’s hackers capable of seeing through walls or having lightning-fast reaction times, matches are infested with some gaining an unfair advantage.

Despite Activision implementing hourly sweeps in addition to banning over 19,000 accounts, fans continue to share their thoughts on how the Black Ops 6 and Warzone publisher can address the problem to minimise hacking in multiplayer and the battle royale. A developer of Valorant’s anti-cheat has dissected Ricochet along with making some suggestions that could yield major improvements.

Why is Call of Duty anti-cheat so bad?

In a bid to shed light on the issue an anti-cheat analyst for Riot Games reveals relying on AI isn’t going to solve the problem. In addition to the inconsistencies with the AI processes, the developer also shares their concerns on how console Call of Duty players are channelled into an unfair environment thanks to Black Ops 6 and Warzone’s crossplay capabilities.

No one expects cheating to be 0%; that’s an unrealistic goal. But when cheating becomes prevalent to the point where it heavily impacts top players and the competitive ecosystem, it’s a sign the current approach may need to be reconsidered. The player experience should always come first and not last.

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Instead of Ricochet utilising AI in a bid to stop hackers from ruining Call of Duty matches, the dev says it should target the cheats directly alongside the addition of a kernel-level driver that detects any kind of suspicious software running alongside the game.

If it were up to me, I’d shift focus away from over-reliance on AI systems for solving these issues. While AI has its place, it’s clear that it’s not fully addressing the core problem. A more effective approach might be targeting the cheats directly rather than relying solely on… https://t.co/bfumrBingk

— GamerDoc (@ItsGamerDoc) November 22, 2024

The importance of competitive integrity in Call of Duty has come under scrutiny due to Black Ops 6 players not having the option to disable crossplay, forcing them to compete against PC players that could have cheats activated. If Activision takes this feedback on board, there’s a strong chance the situation will improve.

Will the situation improve?

Call of Duty anti-cheat certainly has its flaws and the team behind Ricochet is already hard at work implementing new measures to curb the hacking fiasco before Warzone’s Ranked Play launches as part of the Season 1 Reloaded update. Due to its free-to-play nature, there’s a chance the hacking situation will get worse before it gets better.

Considering some anti-cheat experts are providing excellent insights on ways to improve it, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Activision taking some inspiration to stop cheating from overshadowing the incredible success Black Ops 6 has generated.

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