Call of Duty anti-cheat system 'RICOCHET': kernel-level driver on PC

Any regular Call of Duty: Warzone players will know that cheaters have all but ruined Activision's most successful shooter, but it seems that things are about to change with RICOCHET. What is RICOCHET? Check out this video:

Activision has introduced RICOCHET Anti-Cheat system that is supported by a team of "dedicated professionals focused on fighting unfair play". The developer explains: "RICOCHET Anti-Cheat initiative is a multi-faceted approach to combat cheating, featuring new server-side tools which monitor analytics to identify cheating, enhanced investigation processes to stamp out cheaters, updates to strengthen account security, and more. RICOCHET Anti-Cheat's backend anti-cheat security features will launch alongside Call of Duty®: Vanguard, and later this year with the Pacific update coming to Call of Duty: Warzone".

Perfect! Just as Battlefield 2042 is about to launch, Call of Duty: Warzone -- and soon, Call of Duty: Vanguard, have what should be world-class anti-cheat systems. On top of this, there's a new PC kernel-level driver that was developed internally for the Call of Duty franchise, and will be launching first inside of Call of Duty: Warzone. This new driver will help identify the cheaters, which Activision says will reinforce and strengthen the overall server security. We are to expect RICOCHET to launch on the PC and by extension, console players through cross-play against players on the PC will benefit. It seems that this is only a PC thing for now, with console gamers benefitting through cross-play and PC with the PC gamers having their hacking abilities taken away.

Activision explains on the official Call of Duty blog:

"The RICOCHET Anti-Cheat initiative is a multi-faceted approach to combat cheating, featuring new server-side tools which monitor analytics to identify cheating, enhanced investigation processes to stamp out cheaters, updates to strengthen account security, and more. RICOCHET Anti-Cheat's backend anti-cheat security features will launch alongside Call of Duty®: Vanguard, and later this year with the Pacific update coming to Call of Duty: Warzone".

"In addition to server enhancements coming with RICOCHET Anti-Cheat is the launch of a new PC kernel-level driver, developed internally for the Call of Duty franchise, and launching first for Call of Duty: Warzone. This driver will assist in the identification of cheaters, reinforcing and strengthening the overall server security. The kernel-level driver launches alongside the Pacific update for Warzone later this year".

"While the kernel driver, which is only a part of RICOCHET Anti-Cheat, will release to PC, by extension, console players playing via cross-play against players on PC will also stand to benefit. The kernel-level driver will subsequently release for Call of Duty: Vanguard at a later date".