What is this new Ricochet Anti-cheat in Call of Duty Warzone? What does it do for Warzone, and is it working as intended? In this blog, we will discuss everything about Ricochet Anti-cheat in detail. Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play first-person battle royal shooter video game in the famous Call of Duty franchise. The introduction of Call of Duty: Warzone happened during season 2 of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019. Call of Duty: Warzone is connected to all the Call of Duty games released after 2019, starting from Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019, Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War 2020, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019’s sequel.
Call of Duty Warzone was released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows. Warzone uses the Activision in-house game engine Infinity Ward 8.0. Warzone features up to 150 players in its battle royale game mode, while some limited-time modes feature up to 200 players. The game has four maps, and they are Verdansk, Verdansk ’84, Rebirth Island, and Caldera.
What is Ricochet in Call of Duty: Warzone?
One of the major issues in any game, especially in the online multiplayer game, is the use of cheat. If you do not know what cheating is, then it is a method where a person uses third-party software to gain an unfair advantage over other players. These third-party softwares can avert the rules of a game. Online games suffer the most from cheating and cheaters. Some games can have heavy cheaters, while some can have not so much. And the famous battler royale first-person shooter game called Call of Duty: Warzone comes in the former. The game has been noted as the most cheater-filled game.
Fans have been asking Activision for a good anti-cheat to make Warzone more healthy and fun. At last, in October 2021, the developers heard the plea of the fans and announced Ricochet Anti-cheat. The developers released Ricochet first on Call of Duty: Warzone, then later to the newest installment in the franchise, Call of Duty: Vanguard.
For Warzone, the Ricochet Anti-cheat first came out in November 2021 in Asia-Pacific regions. The worldwide release happened in December 2022, and for Vanguard as well. The start of this new anti-cheat was great. Reports suggested that numerous accounts got permanently banned.
Also Read: Warzone Season 2 Patch Notes and Where to Play
How Does Ricochet Anti-cheat Works?
The new Ricochet Anti-cheat is a kernel-level driver. What are kernel-level anti-cheats? The kernel-level anti-cheats are those types of anti-cheats that load up at the boot of ones’ computer.
These anti-cheats work at the root level of the computer. Ricochet Anti-cheat belongs to this level of one’s system.
Privacy
While these kernel-level anti-cheats have some sort of bad reputation, the developers confirmed that Ricochet Anti-cheat would not be harmful. Ricochet will put foremost priority on the players’ privacy. According to the developers, Ricochet will turn on only when the players are playing Call of Duty: Warzone. The moment players shut down the game, Ricochet Anti-cheat will shut down as well. They have also said that the new anti-cheat will only work on the activities related to Call of Duty games.
Working
Ricochet Anti-cheat will work when at the kernel-level of ones’ system. This new Anti-cheat, while the Call of Duty games are on, will detect any suspicious behavior of the player in the game or any third-party softwares. The moment anything suspicious comes into the detection, the Ricochet will provide some kind of damage shield to the unfair party against the cheater. The damage shield means the cheaters’ bullet won’t work on the unfair party, while the unfair party can defeat the cheater.
Ricochet will then ban the cheater permanently.
The developers have also said that the new anti-cheat will have an evolving use of Machine Learning. The gameplay data from the server will be used and analyzed by Machine Learning algorithms. These data will help Machine Learning algorithms in better detection of the suspicious behaviors of the players, thus ensuring healthy and safe play in Call of Duty games.
Also Read: Call of Duty Modern Warfare Reboot Ending Explained: Task Force 141 Set Up
