Activision is cracking down on cheaters once again, this time with a beefed-up arsenal of anti-cheat tools for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and just in time for the game’s open beta. With cheating running rampant in previous entries, especially Black Ops 6, the publisher is determined to clean house before launch day on November 14.
Open beta kicks off soon: Here’s what to expect
The Black Ops 7 open beta officially starts on October 2 for early-access players, and opens up to everyone else on October 5. It’ll wrap up on Wednesday, October 8 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. This test period isn’t just about load testing servers or gathering feedback: it’s also the proving ground for some of Activision’s boldest anti-cheat upgrades yet.
A smarter Ricochet: Machine learning joins the fight
At the core of this new offensive against cheaters is an improved version of the Ricochet anti-cheat system. Rather than just relying on static rules or signature detection, Activision has introduced advanced machine learning systems, trained on “millions of hours of gameplay.” That means the system is designed to spot patterns and behaviour that signal a potential cheater, even if that player’s using brand-new or obscure hacks.
It’s a bit like a digital bloodhound sniffing out foul play: you might fool a few systems, but you’d have to play near-perfectly normal to go unnoticed. That’s becoming harder and harder for exploiters to do.
PC players, take note: Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 are now mandatory
Activision’s not just leaning on Ricochet this time. For PC players, the bar to entry has gone up significantly. Black Ops 7 will require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) enabled to run. These hardware-level security requirements are something console players never have to think about: but on PC, it might force a few users to update BIOS settings or even consider hardware upgrades.
Why the push for tighter PC security? These requirements essentially lock down the system from low-level cheat software, making it significantly harder for cheaters to run spoofers or bypass core game code. Combined with Ricochet, it forms a kind of tag-team security wall around the game.
Real-time punishment: Say goodbye, cheaters
Cheaters won’t just be flagged for later review: they’ll be removed in real-time. This live enforcement approach means those exploiting the system should feel the consequences in the moment, not hours or days later. It’s a bold promise, one gamers have been begging for since the earliest days of Warzone madness.
Of course, no system is perfect. Activision admits up front that these upgrades “may not fully eliminate cheating.” Still, the effort here seems more ambitious than anything we’ve seen in the franchise’s recent history. And let’s be real: reducing the number of cheaters, even by half, would go a long way toward restoring community trust.
A live test before launch day
This upcoming open beta isn’t just your shot to get a feel for new mechanics and maps: it’s a full-on pressure test for the anti-cheat system. Lessons learned during these live sessions will inform adjustments ahead of the full November 14 launch across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Whether you’re playing for the first time or you’re a die-hard Black Ops veteran, it’s worth checking out the beta to see how these new protections hold up. One thing’s clear: Activision’s waging war on cheaters, and this time, it might just work.
What does this mean for you?
If you’ve ever rage-quit a Call of Duty match because of some wall-hacker or auto-aim demigod, you’re not alone. And maybe, just maybe, Black Ops 7 is the turning point. With real-time bans, upgraded Ricochet, beefed-up PC security, and machine learning in its corner, this might be the strongest anti-cheat stance Activision’s ever taken.
Now all that’s left is to see it in action. Beta kicks off October 2: bring your A-game. Just don’t bring your cheats.