Call of Dutyhas had many issues over the years, from balancing problems to complaints of a toxic community, and Activision Blizzard has done its best to counter them. However, while at times its efforts can be made in earnest, often it goes overboard, with the publisher implementing overzealous features that can end up being detrimental to the whole experience. This has led to a fanbase who can be punished for doing little more than playing the game.
This overzealous attitude to fixing problems can be best seen in the series' infamous anti-cheat system, which all too frequently accidentally bans players for little to no reason. Withpreviews ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6calling for more innovation, players may be wondering if it, too, falls prey to the problems of its predecessors. Unfortunately, players, including world champions, are having issues withCOD’santi-cheat once again.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Beta Players Are Being Banned
Black Ops 6 Bans Could Be A Glitch
TheCall of Dutyfranchise is infamous for its rampant banning of players, regardless of whether it’s fair or not, which has led to much discussion about how effective the system is. Recently, in theBlack Ops 6Beta, several players, including pro players such as Cloud 9’sKiSMET(via X, formerly Twitter), have been banned while playing. This is quite surprising, as pro players are almost exclusively against cheating or using exploits, and it seems highly unlikely that Kismet was caught cheating, especially as he is the 2023 World Champion, and therefore good enough at the game to not need to cheat.
Similarly, 2020 and 2024’s World Champion Shotzzy was also banned while streaming (clip courtesy of theShotzzy HQX account), alongside several other prominentCODstreamers, all of whom have no track record of cheating, nor would they be likely to. However, while many are claiming this is the RICOCHET anti-cheat gone wild,it’s more likely to be accidental glitch bans that are occurring as Activision actively fine-tunes the anti-cheat systemto work forBlack Ops 6. The officialCall of Duty Updatesaccount on X states that the RICOCHET team is being extra vigilant during the Beta, and that it is continuing to make adjustments.
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While these bans may be accidental in some cases, it certainly seems likeActivision is being proactive when it comes to removing cheaters during its Beta phase. This has reignited the debate surroundingCOD’snotorious history with bans, with many fans claiming they too were banned unfairly. It’s clear that the RICOCHET anti-cheat system is effective at removing cheaters, but it can apparently, in some instances, get things wrong or go too far.
Black Ops 6 Beta Is Already Full Of Cheaters
Innocent Players Getting Banned While Cheaters Roam Free
However, Activison’s vigilance may be warranted as, rather unsurprisingly,theCall of Duty: Black Ops 6Beta is already overrun by cheaters using wall hacks, aimbots, and other cheats in order to win matches unfairly. These cheaters were caught almost immediately, but more have since taken their place, and this is likely the reason why so many people have been banned already inBlack Ops 6. Cheaters ruin theCall of Dutyexperience for everyone, not just by unfairly winning games using exploits, but also by getting innocent players banned.
Activision’s response in the past has been to mass ban players and implement stricter anti-cheat regulations, but this has largely failed to work. Cheaters are constantly appearing and are using new exploits to get around the anti-cheat measures. It’s a frustrating reality, one that has soured a lot of theCall of Dutycommunity towards the franchise, or just made those so used to it apathetic to the whole problem.
Can Activision Fix The Call Of Duty Ban Problem?
Activision’s Anti-Cheat System Is Inherently Flawed
Call of Duty’sban problem is multi-faceted and endlessly complex, largely because it’s impossible for its anti-cheat software, RICOCHET, to be completely flawless. There are two main types of bans inCall of Duty, temporary and permanent bans, with the former happening when someone is temporarily banned for being reported too many times, and the latter happening due to using unauthorized software or manipulating game data.Short-term temporary bans are almost impossible to stop, unless Activision decides not to ban players due to mass reporting, as its algorithm cannot tell the difference between legitimate reports and false ones.
Fortunately, temporary bans only result in players losing access toCall of Dutyfor a short while, unlike permanent bans which require an appeal process and prevent players from accessing the single-player modes.Call of Dutyexploits, the kind that are resulting in permanent bans, almost exclusively appear on PC, whereRICOCHET uses kernel-level drivers to identify software interfering with the game, and then bans the user using it. This is incredibly effective at rooting out cheaters, but it has, at least according to some players online, tripped up and identified other harmless software as malicious and therefore banned players.
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RICOCHET’s programming is likely the culprit behind the majority of these false bans. Fortunately, Activision is always fine-tuning its anti-cheat measures, but it also has to completely update and revamp it per game, with features like the kernel-level drivers only recently being introduced. Fans are naturally going to be upset if they are banned from aCall of Dutygame without reason, but until Activison can perfect its anti-cheat software, something that has to deal with hundreds of thousands of players, it’s likely going to remain a problem, one that removes unwanted cheaters, and occasionally accidentally bans an innocent player.
