Activision Will Let Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone Ranked Console Players Disable Crossplay With PC as Cheating Complaints Ramp Up

Activision Tackles Call of Duty Cheating with New Anti-Cheat Measures and Crossplay Options

Activision has responded to widespread player concerns regarding cheating in Call of Duty's Black Ops 6 and Warzone, announcing plans to allow console players in Ranked mode to disable crossplay with PC players. The issue of cheating has significantly impacted the competitive scene since the introduction of Ranked Play last year.

Activision's Team Ricochet, responsible for anti-cheat technology, previously acknowledged shortcomings in their initial Season 1 rollout. They've since implemented several updates, including over 136,000 account bans for Ranked Play violations.

Season 2 will introduce enhanced client and server-side detection systems, along with a major kernel-level driver update. Further advancements are promised for Season 3 and beyond, including a new player authentication system designed to identify and ban cheaters more effectively. Details on this new system are being withheld to prevent cheat developers from exploiting it.

A key short-term solution arriving with Season 2 is the option for console players to disable crossplay in Ranked Play for Black Ops 6 and Warzone. This addresses the prevalent belief that a significant portion of cheating originates on PC. Console players have long utilized this crossplay disabling feature in standard multiplayer, and now Ranked players will have the same capability. Activision will closely monitor the impact of this change and consider further adjustments.

Despite these efforts, skepticism remains among the community. Activision has invested heavily in anti-cheat technology and legal action against cheat developers, achieving notable successes. Prior to Black Ops 6's launch, Activision aimed for one-hour detection and removal of cheaters from their first match. The game launched with an updated Ricochet kernel-level driver and machine-learning systems to quickly identify and address aimbots.

Activision acknowledges the sophisticated and organized nature of cheat developers, emphasizing their ongoing efforts to detect and remove cheaters from the game. The company's strategy relies on identifying the "breadcrumbs" left behind by cheaters to track and ban them.