Call of Duty: Warzone’s new Caldera map continues on with the same history as Verdansk, with a bunch of bugs and glitches that effect the experience of every match. However, there is a positive to the map change–the new anti-cheat is actually doing its job.
Since the game’s inception in March of 2022, cheating ran rampant throughout Verdansk’s existence, leaving many fair-playing users to deal with wallhackers and aimbots. Despite banning over half a million accounts, there always seemed to be cheaters in Verdansk.
When Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Season 1 and Warzone’s Caldera map released, so did Activision’s new anti-cheat, Ricochet. It’s a kernel-level driver required for PC players. This driver has a high level of access to manage and monitor various applications on a user’s PC, while it checks for any programs that may be trying to interact or manipulate the game.
For some, this amount of access sounds ridiculous, or even scary. Activision says the driver only runs while Warzone is being played and shuts down once the game is closed.
Warzone players have been reporting very few encounters with cheaters since the launch of Ricochet. Reddit user Good_Vibez_1997 posted that Warzone is still in a bad way bug wise, but also says “However, I do think it’s important to acknowledge how great of an introduction Ricochet’s anti-cheat has been.” They added they haven’t seen such a small number of cheaters since Warzone launched in 2020. The replies to this post are filled with similar accounts of not seeing cheaters since Ricochet’s launch. One commenter added, “I’ve had one cheater the day of Ricochet and that’s it. I was getting one every 4th match or so prior.”
Obviously, some cheaters will continue to slip through the cracks, it just part of playing an online multiplayer shooter. However, those who choose to hack will be doing so at their own risk by exposing themselves to being reported, and likely banned quickly. One Reddit user claimed they were killed by a cheater in Caldera, but the player’s username couldn’t be found the next day. Hopefully, this means that player was banned for their offenses and won’t be returning to that account.
