Warzone players convinced anti-cheat is failing as hackers surge again in Season 1

Brad Norton
Warzone Operator doing finger guns

The Warzone community is up in arms once again as cheaters have returned with a vengeance in Season 1. As almost every lobby fills with hacking players, many are even convinced the Ricochet anti-cheat system has stopped working.

The Warzone cheating crisis has reached new heights in Season 1, quite literally. Despite the introduction of a custom anti-cheat system at the tail end of 2021, the new year has seen an unprecedented hacking resurgence.

Not only are cheaters filling essentially “every match” once again, but they’re doing so with brand new methods of destruction. As a result, the community is nearing its breaking point. Many have even demanded Warzone 2 launch as a full-price title just to help avoid the issue.

With the game “absolutely infested,” some are now questioning whether Ricochet is doing its job. “Did [Activision] turn off the anti-cheat?” one player asked. “This is worse than the last days of Verdansk.

When Ricochet was announced in October, it came as Warzone’s hacking situation bordered on the point of being “unplayable.” After a slow rollout over the next few weeks, Season 1 was ushered in and before long, the community considered it a high point.

“Can we all agree that Ricochet has been an overwhelming success?” players said at the time. Just a few weeks later and this early positivity has quickly turned sour.

As Season 1 begins to wind down, many are now arguing “there’s no point in playing” due to the sheer number of cheaters taking over both Caldera and Rebirth Island.

warzone ricochet anti-cheat global rollout
Although Ricochet drastically improved Warzone to start Season 1, things have quickly unraveled once again.

A free trial weekend from a particular cheat provider appears to have been the cause for this latest surge. With thousands given free access to various exploits, Ricochet hasn’t been able to keep up.

“Whatever kernel-level driver the anti-cheat supposedly has, doesn’t seem to be working, one Reddit user claimed.

Despite Activision suing one of the largest cheat providers, the issue now appears to be more prominent than before. With no recent comments from the developers, there’s no telling how long it may be until new improvements are rolled out.

In the meantime, there’s a good chance every lobby has at least one cheater for you to be cautious of. Whether they’re flying vehicles or locking on across the map, expect some unfair gunfights in the leadup to Warzone Season 2

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com