Ahead of the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Activision has announced a groundbreaking approach to combating cheaters—using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and remove them from the game within the first hour of play. Cheating has plagued the Call of Duty franchise and the FPS genre at large for years, but with the upcoming launch of Black Ops 6, Activision aims to clamp down on those exploiting the system more efficiently than ever before.
Set for release at the end of the week, Black Ops 6 is one of 2024’s most exciting upcoming games, riding on the momentum of fan discussions and the studio’s promises of fixes to lingering issues from prior entries. While 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 received mixed reviews from players, Black Ops 6 is being positioned as a remedy to those complaints. With the return of fan-favorite features like the Theater Mode and the highly requested round-based Zombies maps, Black Ops 6 aims to bring back the core elements that players have loved for years.
However, perhaps the biggest news for the upcoming release is Activision’s new AI-powered anti-cheat measures. In a recent blog post, the company revealed that AI will now play a critical role in identifying and banning cheaters quickly—within just an hour of their first match. This AI system will analyze player behavior and recognize irregular patterns that suggest cheating. “Kernel-level drivers on PC have enhanced anti-cheat’s reach, but cheaters are already offering cheats that go beyond the kernel,” Activision explained. Some cheats now exploit specialized PC hardware, further complicating the fight against cheaters.
Activision’s AI-based solution aims to counter these tactics by monitoring gameplay at a deeper level. “Cheat developers can’t hide player behavior,” said Activision. By analyzing how legitimate players perform versus those using cheats, the AI will be able to pick out cheaters through behavioral patterns and other in-game data. Notably, Activision is leveraging data from the Call of Duty League—where every match is tracked and preserved—to build profiles of top-tier, legitimate players, which will then serve as a reference for identifying cheaters.
Cheating issues were already prevalent during the Black Ops 6 beta, but with the full release approaching, Activision seems confident that these new measures will dissuade cheaters from attempting to ruin the experience for others. “There’s more in progress around what we’re doing with AI beyond behavioral models, and as work continues, we’ll share what we can,” the company added.
Aside from these anti-cheat initiatives, Black Ops 6 is bringing back the classic Prestige system, allowing players to level up across 10 different ranks—each with unique rewards and unlockables. Unlike previous iterations, the Prestige system in Black Ops 6 is not tied to seasonal content, giving players the freedom to hit max rank right from launch day. This, coupled with the return to round-based Zombies with new maps like Liberty Falls and Terminus, positions Black Ops 6 to be a standout title in the franchise.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available starting October 25, 2024.