Warzone devs shut down anti-cheat concerns after “pre-release” RICOCHET leak
Activision / PexelsCall of Duty: Warzone’s security team have quieted concerns after the community discovered a RICOCHET Anti-Cheat leak. The devs have explained that it’s actually a “pre-release” leaked build that hackers are toying with already.
Ever since Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 and Warzone, CoD has had a serious hacking problem. With more PC players than ever, both the professional multiplayer and Warzone scenes have seen cheaters aplenty.
So it was understandably major news when Activision revealed their upcoming, highly anticipated RICOCHET Anti-Cheat. And, also understandably, it was major news when people found out hackers were reversing the leaked kernel-level driver within a day.
But CoD’s developers don’t seem too worried about Vanguard and Warzone’s security system. In fact, they’ve taken to Twitter to calm the concerns.
Leaked RICOCHET Anti-Cheat was only a “pre-release” build
Update from #TeamRicochet:
▶️ RICOCHET Anti-Cheat™ is in controlled live testing. Before putting it on your PC, we’re testing the hell out of it
▶️ Testing includes providing a pre-release version of the driver to select 3rd parties
▶️ Readying server-side upgrades for launch— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) October 15, 2021
In a tweet shared by the official CoD account, Team Ricochet indirectly responded to concerns of the leak. The unit explained that the anti-cheat is currently in live testing, which includes a “pre-release version” being sent to third parties.
As such, it has been inferred that the leaked kernel-level driver wasn’t by an Activision mole — but instead by one such third party. If that’s the case, then the build currently being reversed by hackers isn’t the live version.
But still, some people aren’t fully convinced by this news.
Warzone players still concerned about anti-cheat leak
The version was signed 2 weeks ago, sure it's an early build, but that doesn't change because the obfuscator you use for your kernel driver is terrible? Cheat devs can quickly destroy it within hours. I hope the obfuscator you use on release is better than what's shown. https://t.co/U4t19SpW4j
— Anti-Cheat Police Department 🕵️ (@AntiCheatPD) October 15, 2021
While the RICOCHET devs claimed everything “all good,” community consensus hasn’t been unanimous. Popular security system account, Anti-Cheat Police Department, explained that this pre-release build doesn’t lend confidence to the live version.
Nonetheless, people generally seem happy to know that the battle against hackers wasn’t lost in one day. As someone replied to our tweet about the CoD response, “it’s never chalked.”
Vanguard releases on November 5 and Warzone integration should happen sometime afterward. Now we just have to wait and see if any further developments crop up in the meantime.
