Torrentgame – As a long-time Call of Duty fan, I was excited when Activision introduced the Ricochet anti-cheating system back in 2021. Finally, a solid solution to keep cheaters out of our matches at least, that was the hope. Fast forward to today, during Season 1 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and things haven’t gone as planned. Activision’s Ricochet team recently owned up to some shortcomings, and honestly, it’s refreshing to see such transparency.
In a post on Call of Duty’s official site, the Ricochet team admitted:
We did not hit the mark for the integration of Ricochet Anti-Cheat at the launch of Season 1—particularly for Ranked Play.
Let’s be real: Ranked Play is where the stakes are highest. Climbing leaderboards and chasing those bragging rights attract not only dedicated players but also cheaters who want easy wins. Activision’s team clearly gets this. That’s why they’re doubling down on creating the competitive environment we’ve all been craving.
What’s Changing?
Here’s the good news: Ricochet is evolving. Activision revealed that account bans are now happening hourly (yes, hourly!) and that investigations into cheating are becoming way more hands-on. This includes manual reviews of match clips in addition to the AI-driven Replay tool. They’re also speeding up how quickly cheaters are removed from leaderboards, thanks to better synchronization with ongoing investigations.
But it hasn’t been smooth sailing. There have been cases of legitimate accounts being mistakenly banned (ouch). Thankfully, most of these errors have been corrected. If you’ve played Ranked mode in Black Ops 6, you’ve probably noticed the cheaters flooding matches during launch. Activision explained this was due to an outage that reduced Ricochet’s AI cheat-detection efficiency.
What Can We Do?
As players, we’re not powerless. Activision reminded us to report any suspicious activity we encounter in-game. It may seem tedious, but these reports help refine cheat detection and keep things fair for everyone.
Looking ahead, Ricochet is getting some major updates in Seasons 2 and 3. While specifics weren’t shared, I’m cautiously optimistic. Activision seems genuinely committed to turning this around, and let’s face it—cheating ruins the experience for everyone.
The Bigger Picture
Beyond Ricochet, Black Ops 6 has been buzzing with updates. A new patch recently dropped to fix some in-game bugs, and players have uncovered a wild, game-ending Easter egg in Nuketown (seriously, it’s worth checking out). Oh, and here’s a crossover I didn’t see coming: Treyarch teased a collaboration between Black Ops 6 and Netflix’s Squid Game. Imagine the chaos!
At the end of the day, Call of Duty is at its best when it’s competitive, balanced, and, most importantly, fun. Sure, Ricochet hasn’t been perfect, but Activision is clearly putting in the work to improve. As a fan, I’ll be sticking around to see how this plays out—and keeping my report button ready for any cheaters I run into.
