Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 might not be a cheater infested mess after all — Activision claims a near perfect success rate in the beta

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer reveal screenshots show combat, weapons, score streaks, and maps.
Black Ops 7 might not be full of cheaters if Activision's reports are true. (Image credit: Activision)

The past year of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone has seen legitimate players consistently irritated by the sheer quantity of brazen cheaters in the game.

To its credit, Activision has been continuously working on Ricochet, its anticheat solution, albeit it's fair to say with mixed results.

There is hope though going into Black Ops 7. In a new post on X, the team behind Ricochet has called out an almost 99% success rate in taking cheaters out of the game. If this carries forward into the full release, then we might finally have a game we can enjoy without being at the mercy of bad actors.

Things started strong with a 97.5% success rate reported on the first day of the Black Ops 7 beta, but by day five this has risen to 98.8% of matches being delivered cheater free.

Obviously the target is 100%, but even with the best anticheat in the world, there will always be some who sneak their way through. But it's reassuring to hear these numbers.

It has been a long time coming, but I'm glad it is. I can't get into the mindset of someone who buys cheats for a competitive video game in 2025, I really can't. But it's never them who suffers.

What's equally reassuring is that while the work has continued throughout the beta, it's far from done.

We know how much it means when your matches feel fair. No second-guessing your loss. No watching the replay and thinking, “Was that legit?” So, we're not done yet. RICOCHET Anti-Cheat keeps adapting to protect your time and your matches, and most importantly, earn your trust. There’s much more to come.

Team Ricochet

Activision has recently followed Battlefield in mandating that to play on PC you must have TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot turned on, otherwise you won't be able to join in.

This is part of the efforts to shore up the game's protection from cheaters. It's a pain point for all competitive games, but Call of Duty, in particular, has gained an almost hilarious reputation for it in recent history.

It's one of the biggest games on the planet and now owned by one of the biggest companies on the planet. It's about time they got a handle on this, I only pray, as I'm sure does anyone else wanting to play Black Ops 7, that it actually continues to work.


Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 17 on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and the cloud.

Richard Devine
Managing Editor - Tech, Reviews

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine

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