Activision bans over 19,000 accounts with AI anti-cheat measures in Black Ops 6

Activision has acknowledged an increase in complaints about cheaters in ranked play for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and has issued a response detailing recent banning efforts. Following a major surge in cheating incidents after the game’s October 25 launch, which disrupted gameplay for legitimate players, the company is now reportedly integrating AI technology into its anti-cheat system for Black Ops 6.

Since 2021, Activision has relied on its proprietary kernel-level anti-cheat solution, Ricochet, to combat cheating across its Call of Duty titles. A serious challenge in tackling cheating is identifying genuinely skilled players and those using unauthorized software.

The company said it is addressing this issue by introducing advanced behavioral models, combining them with Ricochet and AI-driven data analysis to improve the speed and accuracy of cheater detection and removal.

Since Ranked Play launched on November 21, more than 19,000 cheating accounts are said to have been banned, with some being removed within an hour of their activities. A post written on X by the official game handle states that “AI systems continue to ramp up with code optimizations to accelerate enforcements,” helping the team to catch more cheaters.

It also mentions that “hourly sweeps to remove cheaters from the Ranked Play mode and leaderboard” are actively underway.