Activision promises ‘stronger’ hardware bans in Call of Duty, with weekly updates on progress vs. cheaters
Activision says it is strengthening hardware bans in Call of Duty to make it significantly harder for repeat cheaters to return after account suspensions. The move matters because cheaters can often evade account bans by creating new profiles, while a ban tied to the underlying PC could block access across Call of Duty titles.
The company said it issued 70,000 new system bans on 7 August and will publish weekly RICOCHET Anti-Cheat updates through the first season of Modern Warfare 4, due to launch on 23 October. Activision plans to report new cheat detections and enforcement actions, with the forthcoming Modern Warfare 4 beta expected to test the effectiveness of the tighter measures.
In short
- Activision is strengthening PC hardware bans against repeat Call of Duty cheaters.
- It says 70,000 system bans were issued in one day.
- Weekly anti-cheat updates will continue through Modern Warfare 4’s first season.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Hardware bans represent a meaningful escalation against a genuine problem that undermines competitive integrity. By targeting the device rather than just the account, Activision makes it substantially harder for repeat offenders to circumvent penalties through new profiles. The company's commitment to weekly transparency reports demonstrates serious intent to tackle an issue that has long frustrated fair players seeking legitimate competition.
The case against
Hardware bans raise significant practical and ethical concerns. Innocent family members sharing a system could face unfair restrictions through no fault of their own, whilst hardware identifiers can often be spoofed or changed, potentially limiting real effectiveness. Sceptics question whether this is substantive anti-cheat progress or primarily a public relations gesture, and worry that hardware-wide restrictions might catch legitimate players or create unintended technical consequences rather than addressing root detection problems.
Explained simply
Call of Duty is a series of online shooting games made by Activision. In its online matches, players compete against one another, and cheating software can give some players an unfair advantage.
Activision’s RICOCHET Anti-Cheat system is designed to detect cheating and enforce penalties. An account ban blocks a player’s profile, while a hardware ban can restrict access from the computer used to cheat, making it harder to return with a new account.
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