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Call of Duty maker Activision claims video game cheating is now a £6.3 billion ($8.5 billion) a year industry
Activision claims cheating in video games has become a global industry worth about £6.3 billion ($8.5 billion) annually, driven by account sales, boosting and spoofing services. The Call of Duty publisher says the scale of the market highlights why it is combining anti-cheat technology with legal action to disrupt sellers and deter players.
Its Team Ricochet unit estimates that cheat subscriptions across just 15 games generate roughly £2.6 billion ($3.5 billion) a year. Activision says it has disrupted more than 375 reseller operations, issued over 80 cease-and-desist notices and closed 31 major cheat vendors; it also claims some players spend more than £750 annually on subscriptions and spoofing tools.
In short
- Activision estimates video game cheating generates £6.3bn annually.
- Cheat subscriptions across 15 games reportedly bring in £2.6bn.
- The publisher has targeted hundreds of resellers and dozens of vendors.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Cheating services can undermine fair competition, drive honest players away and damage the games that developers have invested in building. Activision can argue that combining detection technology with legal action is necessary to disrupt a profitable market, protect players and deter vendors who repeatedly evade enforcement.
The case against
Cheat sellers and users may argue that the industry’s size is Activision’s estimate and that the company has a commercial interest in presenting the problem as extensive. They may also question whether broad legal action is proportionate, particularly if enforcement affects access to tools or services beyond deliberate cheating, and argue that publishers should prioritise robust technical safeguards and clear, fair procedures.
Explained simply
Call of Duty is a series of online games published by Activision, where players compete against one another. Cheating can involve software that gives a player an unfair advantage, or services that raise a player's rank by playing on their behalf.
A market has grown around selling these tools and services, often through subscriptions. Activision’s Team Ricochet works to detect cheating in its games, while cheat sellers and the players who use their products are also targets of legal action.
Cheating can affect fair competition and other players’ experience, and can undermine confidence in online games. Activision’s estimate concerns a wider market across multiple games, while the company’s enforcement efforts relate to the sellers it says it has identified and disrupted.
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