Call of Duty publisher Activision claims its proprietary anti-cheat system, Ricochet, made history for the series during the recent open beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. The playtest was available from October 2 – 9, allowing fans to go hands-on with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 ahead of its launch on November 14. While there were reports of cheaters gaining access to multiplayer matches, Activision claims that nearly 99% of lobbies were cheater-free by the end of the beta.
For as long as online multiplayer games have existed, cheating has been a prevalent issue. However, recent years have seen an influx of hackers across various competitive titles, such as Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Battlefield, and many more. Many publishers have begun developing their own anti-cheat systems to combat those looking to ruin multiplayer matches for others, but the battle still continues to rage on. The beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 saw hackers infest lobbies in just a matter of hours, but Activision’s Ricochet anti-cheat was quick to detect the cheaters and ban their accounts. Now that the beta is over, the studio has given more insight into the stats from the playtest.
Black Ops 7 Beta Sets Anti-Cheat Record for Call of Duty
Call of Duty‘s Ricochet anti-cheat has been continuously updated since its debut in 2021, and it seems as though the system is now better than ever. In a new post on Twitter, Activision revealed that Ricochet achieved the strongest beta results in Call of Duty history for Black Ops 7. The studio claims that cheat detections “got faster” with each day of the beta, and by the end of the playtest, nearly 99% of matches were cheater-free. According to Activision’s statistics, the median detection time for cheaters during the beta was three matches.
Activision says it will continue to work on Ricochet’s detection systems ahead of the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on November 14, which is now just a little over 4 weeks away. The next entry in the series will once again be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Although the decision to continue releasing new titles for last-gen consoles has proved to be massively controversial, Black Ops 7 developer Treyarch recently explained that a “shocking number” of Call of Duty players still remain active on the consoles.
Things may have gotten off to a rocky start for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, but the beta seems to have been a huge success for the title, as Treyarch Studios has implemented some highly requested changes that fans are thrilled about. Undoubtedly the biggest adjustment that will likely make the game a huge hit this year is the removal of skill-based matchmaking for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. After testing a new “open playlist” with minimal SBMM during the beta, Treyarch confirmed it would be returning to the traditional matchmaking system for the game’s full release.
- Released
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November 14, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
