TheCall of Dutyfranchise is taking a major step forward with regards to anti-cheat efforts soon. The Richochet anti-cheat system will add kernel-level protections for multiplayer, an effective if imperfect additional layer on top of current anti-cheat efforts. Those additional efforts are continuing, of course, within client platforms, servers, and in real life. As an example of the latter, the threat of a lawsuit has shut down a group ofCall of Dutycheat creators named Golden Gun.
Administrators from the Golden Gun group of cheat creators announced on Friday that it would be “seating all development” going forward. The decision stems from alegal threat from Activisionstating that the group was in violation of itsCall of Dutygames' Terms of Service, though the Golden Gun administrators did not go into detail. It’s possible that Activision is pursuing a lawsuit against Golden Gun, though that hasn’t been confirmed by either Activision or Golden Gun at this time.
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Golden Gun is moving fast in response to Activision’s efforts. The team behind a range ofCall of Dutycheatshas already taken down the group’s official website, replacing it with a notice mentioning “ongoing legal matters with Activision.” It’s unclear what the status of the group’s Discord chat currently is, though the announcement of the group’s work shutting down has been shared there, too.
The cheats offered by Golden Gun are popular, but it is just one of many groups that currently produce cheats forCall of Dutygames. It also isn’t the first, and unlikely to be the last, that Activision targets with lawsuits. Past groups targeted by Activision includeCxCheats, as well as French group X22 Cheats just this past October.
It’s possible that Activision is working to disrupt the cheat development pipeline ahead of the release of its Ricochet anti-cheat launching for itsCall of Dutygames. It’s likely that cheat makers are already working on ways to get aroundRicochet’s anti-cheat driver, so if Activision can stop those efforts however briefly it could help with long-term anti-cheat efforts.
It bears repeating that no anti-cheat effort is perfect. Software development isn’t a perfect science and cheats developed are both talented and richly rewarded for their success. Yet maintaining healthy competitive environments for players is equally rewarding for game developers, and particularly for the massiveCall of Dutyfranchise. Ricochet will fully arrive inCall of Duty: WarzoneandCall of Duty: Vanguardstarting in early December.
Call of Duty: WarzoneandCall of Duty: Vanguardare available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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