Ricochet, Activision’s “most solid” Call of Duty Warzone anti cheat system was launched to revolutionize fair play. Still, eventually, it didn’t live up to its promises as the number of cheaters is rising and the battle between them and the developers is still ongoing.
Call of Duty Warzone is one of the most criticized games regarding fair play. Cheaters in COD Warzone are like the uninvited party crashers. They come, ruin the game and everyone wants them out, and even if you report them, nothing happens. Let’s just say it’s frustrating when you’re trying your best to play some games after a long 9-5 job, trying to have fun, and suddenly Xx_snipexpert_xX hits you with that 360 no scope behind the wall.
Today, we will uncover why Warzone’s Anti-Cheat System Fails and what can be done about it.
Reasons Why Warzone Anti Cheat Fails to Detect Most Cheaters
Evolving cheat technology
Cheat development is constantly innovating and evolving making it very hard for the anti-cheat system to detect and rectify promptly. This is also due to the use of dynamic code manipulation
which further complicates detection for the developers. For instance, these software can modify their code on the fly making it hard for developers to detect it. They can even take it a bit further by implementing AI to mimic human-like behavior which is by far the hardest method to detect.
Some cheats don’t need access to the system and modify the memory, they can just use the monitor as input and take actions on behalf of players, and as you might know, it’s more precise at aiming and identifying enemy players.
Warzone Anti Cheat Developers are always behind cheaters
Like other anti-cheat systems nowadays, Ricochet operates at the system’s 0 level, the Kernel level, which grants it access to the system’s core. This proved to be a very effective method to detect cheaters or software that want to modify critical data in memory, but it’s still far from perfect.
Delay in updates is another reason why cheaters are always a step ahead of developers; nothing can be done about this. Ricochet’s update cycle often lags behind the cheat developers, eventually creating gaps in protection. It can take more than a month to detect and rectify the problem.
Utilizing Kernel is an effective method, but still very limited in terms of access to the whole system components. What Ricochet primarily does is it simply scan for known signatures and behaviors which is not an ideal method when cheats are dynamically changing and innovating.
False positives are another point that complicates things for developers as it raise the bar for tolerance and it might either bypass or wrongly flag legitimate players who are just playing good
How Cheaters Bypass Traditional Warzone Anti Cheat Software
Private cheats
Private cheats are the norm now in the cheating world, and what makes it hard to detect them is their ability to inject themselves into the game’s memory without leaving any footprints. And to reinforce their invisibility, cheats tend to use standalone applications to launch the modification. For example, image recognition is one of the tools that is being used in modern cheats to automate aim without directly interaction with the system’s core.
Encrypted communication
Cheat developers also encrypt their software communication with both the system and the game so it disguises its true intention. This is a major problem even for the toughest cheat detection engines out there, and Ricochet is no exception.
Low-profile usage
Just like using hardware to tweak some aim settings like recoil and minor aim adjustments, cheats can be more hidden and use subtle enhancements to mimic skilled gameplay making the challenge for detection systems nearly impossible.
Potential Solutions for the Future
Embracing technology
Activision is now on a mission to embrace advanced technologies like AI-based detection methods which helps greatly with identifying different techniques used by cheaters.
Behavioral analysis systems can help with this as it monitor players’ long-term behavior and give detailed and more technically accurate insights into potential cheating when a sudden and dramatic improvement in K/D is noticed.
Utilizing the community feedback
In addition to the utilization of advanced technology, leveraging the community cheat reports and taking them into account is another solution. Rainbow Six Siege already perfected this by giving players the ability to review footage of potential cheaters reported by other players.
Building a collaboration approach with the community is crucial and giving the players the hand to inter-review each other, creates a robust system that can’t be broken. A united front against these cheaters.
Integrating stricter punishments for cheaters
People on forums and all over the internet are asking the developers to implement stricter punishments by perma-banning the hardware Mac addresses to ensure that cheaters can’t rejoin the game. Public blacklisting will discourage others from cheating, knowing the risks of public exposure.
Activision could also implement a mechanism that allows experienced players to provide insights into trending cheats and how to counter them.
In conclusion, we can talk about this for hours, even days, blaming the developers for allowing too many cheaters to enter the game. However, every game has flaws, especially online FPS games. Call of Duty: Warzone can still turn the tide by incorporating advanced technologies and engaging with the community. It is its mission now to bring back fair play and rebuild trust, and looking at the Battlefield series, it’s now the time for Activision to change its approach on handling cheaters and all cheating methods.
So what’s your take? Personally, as a regular COD player, we all have to stand against these cheaters and report these party crashers even if they are on your team and helping you win the game. If Activision wants this game to last and not loose its fanbase, it is its duty to engage with the community as cheat developers becoming more and more clever with avoiding detection and tweaking the memory code on the fly.
Tell me in the comments what you think about Warzone anti cheat system “Ricochet” and what possible solutions that might have a positive impact to bring trust and strengthen the detection.