When a player is detected cheating in "Call of Duty Warzone," the game automatically enters god mode.
As part of the Ricochet anti-cheat system used in the battle royale game, players who find themselves in a game with a hacker will receive a Damage Shield if the anti-cheat detects manipulation.
Team Ricochet described the new system in a new blog post:
"One mitigation technique we've been testing is something we call Damage Shield," it wrote. "When the server detects a cheater is tampering with the game in real-time, it disables the cheater's ability to inflict critical damage on other players.
"This mitigation leaves the cheater vulnerable to real players and allows Team Ricochet to collect information about a cheater's system."
Cheaters should also be aware that the company will begin banning them across the entire "Call of Duty" gaming franchise, not just in individual games, and that the bans will apply to future "Call of Duty" titles as well.
Since the game's release in 2020, cheaters have been a problem. Activision reported in December that it had banned over 48,000 accounts in a single day.
Since the free-to-play shooter's launch in March 2020, Activision stated in August that it has issued over 500,000 "Warzone" permabans.
In December, the publisher rolled out "Warzone's" anti-cheat kernel-level driver worldwide.
Activision has announced that it will provide free gifts to players as a thank you after delaying the release of "Vanguard" and "Warzone Pacific" Season 2 owing to numerous concerns with the games and 2019's Modern Warfare.
Cheating has been a plague on gaming in recent years, leaving no major game unscathed, to the point where pro gamers have abandoned several titles and console users have rejected cross-play with PC due to the presence of cheaters there. Epic will not update "Fortnite" to run on the Steam Deck due to concerns about cheaters as well.
"Some have succeeded, many have not. While a recent rise in cheating is not at the level it was during 'Verdansk,' according to our data, any increase is frustrating," the post said. "Our team is constantly monitoring and will continue every effort to prevent and combat this wherever possible. This back and forth is expected, and while anti-cheat is not a magic bullet, this is a battle we're committed to fighting."
Season 2 of "Warzone Pacific" and "Vanguard" is fast approaching, bringing with it a slew of new map locations, field upgrades, and "Warzone" modes and events.
