The cheaters in Warzone and Vanguard are in for a rude awakening as developer Activision releases a new update to the games’ anti-cheat software.
Anyone caught cheating in Warzone or Call of Duty: Vanguard will now face the wrath of Activision’s latest ironic anti-cheat mitigation tactic, Disarm. As described in a blog post (opens in new tab)The new system does exactly what the name suggests: removes cheaters’ weapons mid-game to leave them completely defenseless.
Cheaters won’t even be able to throw punches with their fists, as Activision says removing all of their offensive capabilities is an effective way to put them “on timeout”. By allowing cheaters to stay in the game but making it virtually unplayable for them, pesky hackers experience their own bitter medicine.
It also makes unscrupulous players easy targets for legitimate players, who can get an easy kill while cheaters are running around confused and helpless. If you spot an enemy player who seems a little too skilled before they suddenly lose all their weapons, there’s a good chance you’ll find a victim of the new disarm system.
playful punishment
Activision has rolled out some other ironic anti-cheat measures in Call of Duty. For the a camouflage system, any player who is cheating will no longer be able to see their opponents, and enemy sounds will be completely undetectable. Honest players, meanwhile, will see cheaters as normal, allowing them to kill quickly.
A Damage Shield system was also introduced earlier in the year. This technique drastically reduces the damage of the cheaters’ bullets and prevents them from dealing critical damage to opposing players. Again, it’s designed to confuse cheaters while allowing legitimate players to get the best of them.
Activision says these anti-cheating systems weren’t developed just because they’re funny. By allowing cheaters to stay in the game while undermining its impact, Activision can gather more data about the hacks. It also allows them to spoil your fun.
“Cheaters, for some reason, feel superior using software to win games they have no right to win,” the blog post reads. “Hitting them with mitigations turns those euphoric feelings of being the best fake into glorious pangs of annoyance. We saw the clips.”
Poetic justice will continue. Call of Duty’s Ricochet anti-cheat system will come to Warzone 2 when it launches later in the year.