19,000 Banned: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s AI Anti-Cheat in Action
Activision Blizzard is taking a stand against rampant cheating in its latest release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, by integrating AI technology into its anti-cheat system. The move comes after the game’s October 25 launch was marred by a significant surge in cheating incidents, impacting the experience of legitimate players.
Cheating has long plagued the Call of Duty franchise, with players employing third-party software for unfair advantages like wallhacks and aimbots. While Activision Blizzard implemented the kernel-level anti-cheat system Ricochet in 2021, its effectiveness has been inconsistent.
To combat this persistent issue and restore Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s reputation, the company is turning to AI. The AI system optimizes code and accelerates execution, enabling the security team to identify and ban cheaters more efficiently.
One of the key challenges in combating cheating is differentiating between highly skilled players and those using illicit software. Activision Blizzard is tackling this by employing new behavioral models, combining them with Ricochet and AI-powered data analysis for faster cheater detection and removal.
The results of this enhanced anti-cheat system are already evident. Since the Ranked Play went live on November 21st, over 19,000 cheating accounts have been banned, some within an hour of their exploits.
📢 #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
Despite these efforts, the fight against cheating is far from over. Cheat developers constantly update their software to bypass anti-cheat measures, and some players remain determined to gain unfair advantages.
This ongoing battle poses a significant challenge for both game developers and players alike. Whether Activision Blizzard can successfully minimize cheating and protect the integrity of the game for honest players remains to be seen.
