The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta is live now, and as Activision expected, cheaters have descended upon it.
Earlier this week, Activision said it was well aware that cheaters would strike the beta, as they have previous Call of Duty betas, but welcomed the onslaught that was to come.
“Cheaters will try to test the limits during the beta,” Activision said. “That’s exactly what we want because #TeamRICOCHET is here, watching, learning, and removing them as they appear. Any account permanently banned for cheating during the Beta will be banned across all Call of Duty titles, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to future releases.”
Activision had highlighted its new aimbot detection, which it said is “one of the strongest detection systems we have ever built,” and its new wall hacking detections, “making it harder for cheaters who manipulate the game to see enemies through surfaces harder to escape detection.”
But a cursory glance at social media shows a number of clips revealing cheaters enjoying themselves in the Black Ops 7 beta.
The hope is, of course, that data gathered during this beta period will help reduce cheating when Black Ops 7 comes out in November. But publishers like Activision face an uphill battle when it comes to hacks. Indeed EA faces the same problem with rival shooter Battlefield 6, whose open beta also saw cheaters.
As part of the war on cheaters, publishers are starting to force PC gamers to enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot in order to play. EA’s done it with Battlefield 6, and Activision has done it for Call of Duty. More will surely follow.
These features block modified hardware and unauthorized software, with the goal of creating a fair, secure environment for all players even as cheaters ramp up their efforts. But it remains to be seen just how effective they will be, with both Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 waiting in the wings.
For now, though, some Call of Duty console players are doing what they always do when a new game in the series comes out: turn crossplay off in a bid to avoid PC players. Cheating is more prevalent on PC (Activision recently confirmed as much, to the point where it said if you believe you’ve died unfairly to a console player, it’s much more likely that they’ve used ‘intel advantage’ than cheats). So, some console players head straight into Call of Duty’s settings to turn off crossplay across the board, just to take the potential for PC cheaters ruining their day out of the equation. Earlier this year, Activision added new console-only crossplay options for regular multiplayer, although PC players who do not cheat said they were being unfairly punished.
If you want to get in on the action, check out our guide to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta global release times to find out when it's playable.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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