JGOD details new Warzone Ricochet anti-cheat: how it works, shadow bans, whitelists, and more

Raven Software recently revealed their new  Ricochet anti-cheat system, which is described as a "multifaceted approach to combat cheating", and will release on Warzone and Call of Duty: Vanguard later this year. This comes after the occurrence of hacking and cheating skyrocketed in Warzone to the point of the game becoming unplayable.

The new anti-cheat is indicated to rollout with two layers of protection: one which processes queries server-side using machine learning technology; and another layer, existing on the host machine, with a kernel-level driver that will run concurrently, whilst Warzone and Vanguard is active.

JGOD details anti-cheat strategies employed in Warzone and COD Vanguard

Warzone content creator, JGOD, recently uploaded a YouTube video explaining all the mechanisms that Raven Software and Activision will employ to combat cheating, alongside their new Ricochet anti-cheat system launching on Warzone and COD Vanguard.

This came as a result of the YouTuber being invited to sit in on a board discussion hosted by Raven Software and Activision prior to the launch of their new kernel-level anti-cheat system. Arguably the most pressing question many Warzone and Call of Duty players want to know is, will the new anti-cheat eradicate cheating and hacking for good?

Will Warzone's Richochet anti-cheat eradicate hacking for good?

The short answer is: No, it won't. JGOD noted that the purpose of the new Ricochet anti-cheat would not eradicate cheating completely, but rather make it extremely annoying and difficult for cheaters to want to cheat. "It's not some kind of magic bullet [...] it doesn't really work that way," JGOD said.

Without explaining the technical mechanics of Richochet, JGOD explained that the system would be "significantly better at catching people trying to cheat" and that there would be other systems in place that would make it harder for hackers to acquire multiple accounts.

Ultimately, he said that Activision and Raven Software are taking measures that should reduce the sheer amount of hackers in the game. With that said, there is a chance that players will still run into cheaters, but those would be "few and far between."

Manual reporting will continue to shadowban suspected cheaters

JGOD explained that Raven Software will continue to make use of manual reporting to shadow ban suspected cheaters. He explained that users that are mass reported would be flagged and placed in "high ping lobbies", which would be subject to manual review to ascertain whether or not those players were indeed cheating or hacking.

The developers are also looking to include a streamer mode, which will involve putting streamers into a random queue to prevent stream sniping. In addition, JGOD also mentioned that whitelisting was discussed during the Q&A portion of the discussion he attended.

Raven Software to use whitelisting alongside Ricochet anti-cheat

According to JGOD, Raven Software reportedly uses whitelisting for two reasons: one reason is to prevent high-profile individuals (like streamers) from ending up in "high ping lobbies" as a result of trolls mass reporting them, and the second reason is that whitelisting is used in the World Series in Warzone to ensure players get into specific lobbies.

JGOD reassured Call of Duty players that there is "no system in place that would make somebody untouchable if they were whitelisted." This means that anyone that uses cheats would be banned, regardless of their whitelist status.

Call of Duty anti-cheat to clamp down on cheating peripherals

Another thing that JGOD addressed was Call of Duty players using cheating peripherals (such as Acronis, Strike Pack or Titan Two) besides a regular controller, or keyboard and mouse.

"[Activision] actually plans to shut them down in two different ways. The first being going directly to the platforms, like PlayStation, Xbox or Microsoft [...] and making sure that the individual USB stick, or whatever, would not function with the individual devices; so that would just be shut down," JGOD said.

JGOD further explained that Raven Software and Activision would integrate this into the anti-cheat to root out the hackers, owing to the predictability of the scripts used by those peripherals.

"So if you're one of those losers, then be on the lookout once that update happens, and you're gonna be kind of screwed," JGOD said.

Although the kernel-level driver will be specific to PC users, console players will still benefit by extension as a result of crossplay.

Ricochet anti-cheat release date for Warzone and Vanguard

The new Richochet server-side anti-cheat system will release on 5th November, with COD Vanguard and would be added to Warzone along with the release of the new Pacific map, later this year.

Activision indicated that the PC kernel-level driver would be released with the Warzone Pacific map update but would be added to COD Vanguard at a later date, which is yet to be confirmed by the publisher.

• Read more: How to unlock the M1 Garand and STG 44 in Warzone

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Featured image courtesy of YouTube / JGOD & Activision.

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