Call of Duty is pushing harder than ever to protect the fairness and competitiveness of its games. With the launch of Season 02 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Team RICOCHET is rolling out a major anti-cheat update that targets one of the biggest sources of unfair play: cheating tools and behavior that give players unearned advantages.
According to Activision, the center of this effort is a renewed focus on Ranked Play, a mode where competitive integrity is especially important. RICOCHET’s primary goal for the new season is to launch Ranked Play with “the strongest protections possible,” making sure that skill ratings and competitive outcomes reflect real player ability rather than exploitative behavior. To achieve this, the team has invested in new technologies and detection systems designed to spot cheating before it can impact a game.
A major part of this anti-cheat push targets unapproved third-party input devices. Hardware like Cronus Zen and XIM Matrix. These gadgets can be plugged into consoles and PCs to alter button inputs or automate aiming, effectively giving users machine-like aiming, recoil control, or responsiveness that no healthy human could achieve naturally. While some players have argued that these devices help with accessibility, Call of Duty is clear: they are not permitted and are treated as cheating tools because they exist to give unfair advantages.
Instead of trying to detect a specific device’s make or model, RICOCHET’s system now analyzes how player inputs behave. The anti-cheat examines timing, consistency, reaction patterns, recoil control and aim behavior to distinguish human play from machine-modified input patterns that exceed physical limitations of controllers or mice. By focusing on behavior rather than hardware signatures, the system is more flexible and better equipped to adapt as cheaters change tactics.
Beyond input-behavior detection, Season 02 builds on earlier requirements like TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. The update introduces a cloud-based attestation system that checks the integrity of players’ systems before they enter Ranked matches. Powered by Microsoft Azure Attestation, this technology verifies that the system hasn’t been tampered with and meets security standards, helping to prevent exploits from ever gaining a foothold in competitive play. These improvements work “before the match begins,” aiming to stop cheating at the earliest possible moment.
Importantly, these protections are designed to be broad and ongoing rather than temporary fixes. RICOCHET’s Season 02 detections focus first on “the most widely used configurations” of illicit devices, but the systems are built to evolve and expand over time so that input modification tools eventually become ineffective against Call of Duty. This means that even as cheat makers try new configurations and techniques, the anti-cheat can adapt and respond.
Activision and RICOCHET make it clear that this isn’t a “one-and-done” solution and cheaters will always find new ways to push boundaries, but the company is committed to constantly updating and refining its defenses. They also remind players that while the vast majority of Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone matches remain cheat-free, constant vigilance and tool refinement are essential to preserving that gameplay experience.