TL;DR: Cheating has been a plague for honest Modern Warfare and Warzone players ever since the games were initially released. Activision's Ricochet anti-cheat engine has slowly chipped away at the issue, however its efforts have often been met with criticism, workarounds, and even ridicule from cheat makers themselves. Now it appears Activision is turning the tables on cheaters in the Season 3 update, and hackers aren't happy about it.
Activision announced its Season 3 Ricochet anti-cheat updates this week, and from the looks of it they're turning up the heat on MW and Warzone hackers. The post outlines several new approaches to the Call of Duty developer's anti-cheat approach, all designed to identify and discourage foul play on the virtual battlefield while allowing the team to gather additional information about the exploits being used.
Replay Investigation
Thanks to the new update, Activision and Ricochet team members will be able to capture, store, and review any gameplay data as part of the new investigation process. The replays allow analysts to identify cheating behavior in both Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0. According to Ricochet team, the feature has already helped with investigations into suspicious accounts, resulting in permanent bans across all Call of Duty titles.
Damage Shield
Like the name implies, damage shield provides honest players with a protective barrier against attacks from identified cheaters. The cheater's weapons will register hits but do no damage, while the honest player's weapon remains unaffected, allowing them to dispatch the cheater and earn a kill.
Cloaking
Unlike damage shield, cloaking relies on obfuscation rather than damage mitigation. The anti-hack makes the non-cheating player invisible to the cheating player, giving them every advantage they need to stay alive.
Disarm
Another straightforward mitigation, disarm, identifies a nefarious player and removes their weapon, making them unable to fight back against their armed but honest opponent.
The new update has also started addressing another thorn in the side of players looking for an honest game. Third-party tools such as the Cronus Zen and XIM Apex adapter have long given both console and PC players an unfair advantage, allowing them to modify their control inputs and leverage various aim, tracking, and movement exploits to achieve unmatched accuracy and speed.
News of the crackdown arrived via Activision's blog as well as through a well-known CoD-based Twitter account, CharlieIntel. Any identified 3rd party tool user will receive an on-screen warning indicating that further use will result in suspension, bans, etc.
The changes mark several more countermeasures in the war against cheaters and cheat developers. Activision feels confident that the new measures, in combination in-game reporting from affected players, will help to extend permanent bans and ensure a better over all experience for Season 3 players.
https://www.techspot.com/news/98244-activision-trolling-cheaters-research-purposes-glorious.html
