Activision Devs Admit Black Ops 6 Anti-Cheat Wasn’t Good Enough

In a blog post on the Call of Duty site, Activision has expressed what’s next for Team RICOCHET, the providers of COD’s anti-cheat mechanics. The post addressed the launch of Black Ops 6 and the subsequent release of Ranked Play, which was marred by an influx of cheaters that made grinding a miserable, impossible experience.

In a line, the team admitted that the anti-cheat systems used in Black Ops 6 simply weren’t good enough.

Missing the Mark

In the blog post on the COD site, the team wrote:

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. 

On social media, pro players worldwide were lamenting the state of Ranked Play, revealing clips showing them constantly brushing up against cheaters and malicious operators.

Further to the statement above, Activision went on to mention the obvious:

We understand the promise of glory and notoriety from Ranked Play leaderboards makes Ranked Play an attractive target for cheaters. For this reason, our teams have been especially focused on turning the tide to deliver the competitive arena our players seek.

To that end, several key changes are now being implemented. In addition to the 19,000 accounts already banned, the team is promising ‘increased velocity’ on suspensions, to kick cheaters from the game much faster. Team RICOCHET has also started to provide ‘further training’ for AI-based detection systems.

RICOCHET’s kernel-level driver and server-side protections are set to receive some serious upgrades that’ll be deployed alongside Season 02 and Season 03 in Black Ops 6 and Warzone.

The blog post was closed out with a request to keep reporting cheaters whenever you see them because, after all, there’s only so much these automated systems can do.

Do you think the cheating situation in Black Ops 6 has reached a point of no return? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.

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