RICOCHET Anti-Cheat Progress Report – MW II and Warzone 2.0 Season 03 Update

The RICOCHET Anti-Cheat™ team reveals new detections and tools in the fight against cheaters, including in Ranked Play.

Since launch, the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat™ team has been developing and deploying new techniques and technologies to combat unfair play for both Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0. In the Season 03 Anti-Cheat Progress report, we detail several new layers of security and detections to protect all modes, with a focus on Ranked Play for Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0.

RICOCHET Anti-Cheat maintains a zero-tolerance policy related to cheating in all modes, including Ranked Play:

• All accounts caught cheating may be permanently banned across Call of Duty titles as outlined in the Security and Enforcement Policy.
• Banned accounts will have their records purged from the Ranked Play Top 250 and other competitive Leaderboards.
• Specific to Ranked Play: RICOCHET Anti-Cheat and development studios may adjust the Skill Rating (SR) for players that have frequently played with and benefited from banned cheating accounts, even if they themselves have not used cheats.

REPLAY INVESTIGATION TOOL

Thanks to the development studio teams, #TeamRICOCHET has deployed a new Replay investigation tool to help protect the integrity of Modern Warfare II multiplayer and Warzone 2.0.

Using captured and stored match gameplay data, our teams can load up and watch any completed match as part of our investigation process. Replay will be used as one of many tools by the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team and our studio partners to identify cheating behavior in all multiplayer modes for both Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0, including Ranked Play.

With respect to Ranked Play in both Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0, #TeamRICOCHET will automatically capture and store all match data for the highest tiers of competition for potential investigation use. We also are capturing match data from suspicious accounts across all multiplayer modes for easy Replay access.

Though it’s a new tool for #TeamRICOCHET, Replay has already helped with investigations into suspicious accounts resulting in permanent bans.

Any player caught cheating via any of our systems will be banned across Call of Duty titles outlined in the Security and Enforcement policy. Banned players will be removed from all leaderboards.

Reporting any cheating behavior you may encounter is helpful to our investigation process. Reports help flag accounts for review through our systems, including Replay, so we urge everyone to use the in-game tools to report suspicious players. Learn how to report players on the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat website.

THIRD-PARTY HARDWARE DEVICE DETECTION

Since our previous progress report, #TeamRICOCHET has developed and tested a detection for third-party hardware devices that alter the Call of Duty gameplay experience. These devices act as a passthrough for controllers on PC and console and, when used improperly or maliciously, can provide a player with the ability to gain an unfair gameplay advantage, such as reducing or eliminating recoil.

Testing is complete: This detection is deployed globally on all platforms.

Users across PC or console who are detected to be using third-party hardware devices to impact the Modern Warfare II or Warzone 2.0 gameplay experience will first see a warning about the improper use of these devices (screen below).

Continued improper use of these devices may lead to additional warnings, the deployment of mitigations, account or feature suspensions, or the banning of the offending account across Call of Duty titles, per our Security and Enforcement Policy.

We will continue to monitor this new detection’s effectiveness and update our systems against further circumvention over time.

We know players have been asking us to examine the improper use of these devices and we’re happy to lay the foundation for this detection to protect against unfair play across PC and console.

IN-GAME MITIGATIONS

The videos below represent previously revealed mitigations that are currently active in both Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0, with other unannounced surprises deployed and in testing or planning. Mitigations are used to negatively impact the experience of cheaters, while also giving our team the opportunity to collect valuable data from the bad actors. This intel provides the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team with valuable information to help combat their behavior in the future.

CLOAKING (below): the process of hiding legitimate players from cheating players

DISARM (below): the process of removing weapons and equipment from cheaters while in-game

DAMAGE SHIELD (below): the process of providing legitimate players with a protective barrier against cheaters

The RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team is constantly monitoring and tuning our systems to help combat cheating we see in all modes, including Ranked, banning players across titles who engage in such behavior.

ADDITIONAL BEHAVIOR WARNINGS

Account boosting, game glitching or exploiting, and player griefing are in opposition to the Call of Duty Security and Enforcement Policy and Code of Conduct. Players that engage in these behaviors will see in-game warnings detailing these offenses.

If these behaviors persist, accounts may be subject to additional warnings and penalties, including game or feature suspensions, progression resets, and more. Read the Security and Enforcement Policy to learn more about these offenses and their consequences.

The above represents only some of the advancements #TeamRICOCHET has been working toward. Our team is constantly fighting an ongoing cat-and-mouse game to lock out cheaters and preserve fair play. Follow Call of Duty’s social channels for any updates and information coming from #TeamRICOCHET in the future.