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What “all-in” means for Call of Duty anti-cheat
Activision’s approach has three parts: technical systems intended to detect and mitigate cheating, enforcement against player accounts and devices, and legal pressure on people or businesses that distribute cheats. Each addresses a different point in the problem: detecting unauthorized activity in games, restricting access, and targeting cheat distribution.
That framing matters because an enforcement action is not proof of how common cheating is, and a lawsuit against a cheat seller is not the same thing as a ban against a player. The available sources do not establish an independent study measuring cheating prevalence in Call of Duty.
How RICOCHET works, according to Activision
Activision describes RICOCHET as a multi-part anti-cheat initiative rather than a single feature. Its overview lists server-side monitoring and analytics, investigations, detections and mitigations, and account security work. For listed PC titles, Activision says its internally developed kernel-level driver monitors and reports applications that attempt to interact with protected games, helping the RICOCHET team assess whether unauthorized processes are manipulating them. A kernel-level driver runs with high system privileges; this is Activision’s description, not an independent audit of the driver or its effectiveness. Activision’s RICOCHET overview was updated November 10, 2025.
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Titles named in Activision’s November 2025 overview
That dated overview says backend anti-cheat security features had launched for Black Ops 7, Black Ops 6, and Warzone, and that RICOCHET systems also protected Modern Warfare III, Modern Warfare II, and Vanguard. Treat this as a snapshot of Activision’s stated coverage at that time, not a permanent guarantee about which titles are covered.
How Call of Duty hardware bans work
Activision’s Security and Enforcement Policy, updated July 31, 2026, draws a distinction between account enforcement and a hardware ban. In Activision’s words, “Hardware bans apply to the device and not the account.” While a hardware ban is active, the affected device cannot be used for online play. The policy says a hardware ban can apply across past, present, or future Call of Duty games, and that its duration varies.
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| Enforcement type | What it applies to | Scope and duration | Appeal route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account enforcement | An Activision account; active enforcements are implemented across devices linked to that account. | Account restrictions; the policy describes these separately from device bans. | Consult Activision’s policy for the applicable enforcement process. |
| Hardware ban | The device, not the account. | Blocks online play on the banned device; may span past, present, or future Call of Duty titles. Duration varies. | Activision says hardware bans are not eligible for appeal. |
Check a device’s hardware-ban status
- On the device in question, open a Call of Duty title that supports crossplay.
- Sign in with an Activision account in good standing.
- If the device is hardware-banned, Activision says an in-game status notification will appear.
The policy warns that a ban may remain on a secondhand, shared, or publicly accessible device previously used during a policy violation. It also says a hardware ban may later be cleared or imposed again for another violation. Activision says its security team researches, designs, and validates detection methods before enforcement; the cited materials do not include an independent audit of enforcement accuracy.
What Activision’s EngineOwning lawsuits resulted in
The case, Activision Publishing, Inc. v. EngineOwning UG, et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It produced separate outcomes at different times, involving different defendants. The 2023 consent judgment against one defendant should not be combined with the later default judgment against other defendants.
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| Proceeding | Defendant(s) and procedure | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 consent judgment and permanent injunction | Manuel T. Santiago; consent judgment. | The order barred him from distributing specified EngineOwning products and other game cheats. It also barred developing or distributing software intended to spoof hardware IDs or computer signatures to evade hardware bans. Read the 2023 court order. |
| 2024 default judgment | Other defendants; default judgment, not a jury damages verdict. | The court filing records a judgment of $14,465,600. The April 12, 2024 filing is the court record; TorrentFreak reported the result as about $14.5 million. |
A judgment involving some defendants does not by itself establish the status or liability of every person or entity named in a case. The 2024 amount is a court-entered default judgment, not a finding reached after a contested jury trial.
What Activision’s enforcement numbers do—and do not—show
In its December 2024 RICOCHET update, Call of Duty said more than 19,000 accounts had recently been removed and described account bans as then happening hourly. That is Activision’s account-removal figure for its stated reporting window, not an independently audited count or a measure of all cheaters. It does not establish the overall prevalence of cheating. Read the December 2024 update.
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The reported 2026 cease-and-desist notice
PC Gamer reported on August 30, 2026, that Activision publicized service of a cease-and-desist notice on a cheat maker. The report quoted Call of Duty’s official account saying, “We’re prepared to take cheat developers and sellers to court to protect fair play.” This is a reported notice and statement, not a court judgment. The available account does not establish the notice’s later legal status. PC Gamer’s report describes the announcement.
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