Fact Checked by 
Activision has acknowledged an increase in complaints about cheaters in ranked play for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and has issued a response detailing recent banning efforts. Following a major surge in cheating incidents after the game’s October 25 launch, which disrupted gameplay for legitimate players, the company is now reportedly integrating AI technology into its anti-cheat system for Black Ops 6.
Since 2021, Activision has relied on its proprietary kernel-level anti-cheat solution, Ricochet, to combat cheating across its Call of Duty titles. A serious challenge in tackling cheating is identifying genuinely skilled players and those using unauthorized software.
The company said it is addressing this issue by introducing advanced behavioral models, combining them with Ricochet and AI-driven data analysis to improve the speed and accuracy of cheater detection and removal.
Since Ranked Play launched on November 21, more than 19,000 cheating accounts are said to have been banned, with some being removed within an hour of their activities. A post written on X by the official game handle states that “AI systems continue to ramp up with code optimizations to accelerate enforcements,” helping the team to catch more cheaters.
It also mentions that “hourly sweeps to remove cheaters from the Ranked Play mode and leaderboard” are actively underway.
📢 #BlackOps6 #RankedPlay #TeamRICOCHET with an update on the ongoing work to combat cheating in Ranked Play:
• AI systems continue to ramp up with code optimizations to accelerate enforcements
• Over 19,000 Ranked Play bans since the mode launched
• Hourly sweeps to remove…— Call of Duty Updates (@CODUpdates) November 26, 2024
Black Ops 6 Ricochet team reveals AI anti-cheat updates
In a blog posted prior to the release of the game, the Ricochet Anti-Cheat team revealed that it was minimizing cheaters by aiming to remove them within an hour of their first match. During the beta, the team said that detection systems improved significantly, cutting cheater removal time from 10 matches to 5. Over 12,000 cheating accounts were reportedly blocked before entering any matches.
However, the company admitted: “Cheating is a frustrating issue across the industry. But our goal is to get bad actors out of our game as fast as possible. Our NorthStar is within one hour.”
Featured image: Activision Blizzard / Canva
