Activision Is Already Warning About This Problem In Modern Warfare 2
Many an online multiplayer developer has struggled to shut down cheaters, who can prove so persistent and numerous as to outright ruin games. For a series as popular and multiplayer-driven as "Call of Duty," which had sold over 400 million lifetime units as recently as April 2021 (via Statista), that has amounted to hundreds of thousands of cheaters using aim-bots, wall-hacks, and beyond to gain an unfair edge. It reached a point where Activision implemented the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat program to deal with the issues surrounding modern entries like "Warzone" and "Vanguard."
While highly successful in the first few months (as many players agreed on Reddit), RICOCHET has stated problems may carry over to future installments. The team described its most recent progress to curb cheating in a blog post on the official "Call of Duty" website. Consisting of researchers, data scientists, and online security, the task force began publishing regular Anti-Cheat Progress Reports late last year. RICOCHET has prioritized mitigation as a tool supporting banning — not replacing it. Unfortunately, while the initiative has made great strides, the post predicted players could continue to face obstacles in the upcoming "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and "Warzone 2."
Cheating will likely remain a problem in Modern Warfare 2
RICOCHET promised to bring its services over to "Modern Warfare 2" and "Warzone 2." But the team clarified players will still likely encounter cheaters. The blog post framed efforts to curb cheating as akin to "anti-virus software." "While our team has been able to establish systems that can quickly detect and respond to bad behaviors, we know tomorrow will continue to deliver new and evolving threats," RICOCHET wrote.
In short, combating cheaters is an ever-evolving arms race: Cheaters develop new, subversive ways to cheat, RICOCHET responds with fresh mitigation measures, and the cycle repeats. Of late, the team's mitigation tactics have included a Damage Shield that protects ordinary players and a Disarm tool that removes all weapons from cheaters -– even their fists.
Fortunately, these measures have resulted in immense improvements. The team touted having performed over 180,000 bans between "Warzone" and "Vanguard" since the last report in April. A graph tied to the blog post also pointed to a visible reduction in reports of cheating over time, with some ups and downs that RICOCHET anticipated. Although Team RICOCHET maintained some problems may carry over to "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and "Warzone 2," the track record of its Anti-Cheating service bodes well for the future of the series' online multiplayer.