Sledgehammer Games launches long-awaited anti-cheat tool Ricochet. Cheaters expect hardware bans – to be effective across all Call of Dutys.
For a long time, the developers of Call of Duty have been working on a new anti-cheat system covering all games of the brand. Now Ricochet is active on the server side and promises improvement in the cheater-plagued CoD Warzone. But the new and fan-celebrated Call of Duty: Vanguard should also benefit from the technology. However, the rollout of Ricochet is still in its infancy.
Ricochet should keep matches clean
Vanguard developer Sledgehammer Games shared the release of Ricochet via Twitter. Here it becomes clear that the makers of the new Call of Duty want to play hardball against cheaters and hackers:
Anti-cheat reminder, TeamRICOCHET is live! We are enforcing anti-cheat security measures in Vanguard already, including issuing account bans and resolving exploits related to XP earn rates & unlocks. More to come.
Want to fry the competition with a high-level unlock? Earn it! pic.twitter.com/gpQ9UY9bZj
– Sledgehammer Games (@SHGames) November 12, 2021
The technique is now used on the server side to make life difficult for cheaters. With this, however, Ricochet only unleashes half its power. A client update for Warzone and finally Vanguard will follow in December. Then cheaters should have an even harder time, also because Ricochet, like many effective anti-cheats, relies on kernel access to recognise the cheats.
Tough measures threatened
The developers of Ricochet explain that extreme or repeated violation of guidelines can result in the ban of the CoD account. In this case, extreme includes cheating and the use of exploits. So anyone who plays unfairly in Warzone or Vanguard in future will have to reckon with the loss of their account. Thanks to the hardware ID ban, this will also remain permanently effective.
By December at the latest, we will see how effective Ricochet proves to be in practice. Because the fight against cheaters is not won with the release of an anti-cheat tool – it only begins then. It will be exciting to see who comes out on top in the inevitable arms race between cheat and anti-cheat developers.
