Call of Duty: Warzone Will Get a Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Called Ricochet

Call of Duty has officially announced the name of its upcoming Anti-Cheat initiative developed specifically for its popular shooter. Called Ricochet, this is a “multi-faceted approach” designed to combat cheating using kernel-level monitors. Going forward Ricochet will be required to play Call of Duty: Warzone on PC.As the intensity of cheating grows, games like Call of Duty: Warzone and even the Call of Duty: Vanguard beta have been victims of cheats. During a media tour for the upcoming Vanguard, Activision announced a new dedicated anti-cheat solution for Warzone and Vanguard.That solution now has a name and additional details. Ricochet utilizes a kernel-level driver, similar to Riot’s Vanguard technology (unrelated to the Call of Duty game). If you recall, Riot’s Vanguard was criticized for having kernel-level access to a computer, but in recent months the tide has turned as Vanguard has proven to be effective at combating cheating.Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer ScreenshotsActivision is hoping to do the same here with Ricochet. In an FAQ, Activision justifies its new anti-cheat by saying that as cheating software becomes more sophisticated, “A kernel-level driver allows for the monitoring of applications that may attempt to manipulate Call of Duty: Warzone game code, while it is running.”Compared to user-level applications with limited access to a computer, kernel-level drivers will allow for more sophisticated counters to cheats.Ricochet will not be always-on and Activision says that the driver will shut down when you exit a game and only turn back on when you start a new game.Activision also says that Ricochet only examines processes that interact with Call of Duty: Warzone, and while it won’t completely eliminate cheating, it is a stronger anti-cheat than Activision has utilized previously.Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.



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