If you thought you spotted a hacker during the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta, chances are they were already on their way out. In a bold and transparent update to the community, Activision has revealed staggering statistics from its war on cheaters, announcing that its upgraded anti-cheat systems detected and banned a whopping 97% of hackers within 30 minutes of them signing into the recent beta test.
The announcement, which has sent waves of relief through the Call of Duty player base, details the efficacy of the Team Ricochet initiative's strengthened approach. According to the developer, not only were cheaters caught with unprecedented speed, but less than 1% of them ever managed to make it into an actual match.
This swift justice comes on the heels of the Black Ops 7 beta launch, which also introduced a Zombies mode and, notably, required players to enable advanced security protocols like TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot on their PCs to participate—a move that appears to have been a critical first line of defense.
A Proactive and Automated War on Cheats
In an official update on X (formerly Twitter), the Call of Duty Updates account broke down the results for players. "Cheaters were expected," the post read. "But our upgraded systems caught them faster than ever, powered by strengthened TPM 2.0 checks and automated systems helping to eliminate a large number of attempts to cheat."
Activision was quick to address the small fraction of cheaters who did slip through the net, assuring players that their victories were hollow. "Those who did manage to slip through didn’t last long," the update continued. "Most never made it into a match. You may have seen clips of cheaters in the Black Ops 7 Beta. We had already taken action on most of those accounts before they hit social media. We’re watching closely, acting in real time, and learning from every attempt."
This proactive approach means that by the time a clip of a suspicious player goes viral, the account in question has likely already been permanently banned.
Cracking Down on the Entire Cheating Ecosystem
The fight isn't just happening in the game. Activision's report highlighted a parallel, real-world offensive against the broader cheating ecosystem. Since the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 last year, the company has taken legal and enforcement action, leading to the shutdown of more than 40 cheat developers and resellers. The pressure has been so effective that several cheat providers have publicly admitted their tools are now "unusable" against Black Ops 7's fortified systems.
Despite these automated successes, Activision still encourages players to use the in-game reporting tool. Manual reports are described as invaluable, as they "help field our detection models, refine enforcement, and improve coverage," essentially training the AI to be even smarter.
A Stark Warning for the Future
Looking ahead to the full launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on November 14, 2025, Activision promises that the beta was merely a preview of its anti-cheat capabilities. The message to would-be cheaters is clear: "And this is just the beginning. When launch arrives, every layer of protection will be in full force, and Ricochet Anti-Cheat will only grow stronger."
This builds upon a warning issued just last week, where Activision confirmed that any beta bans for cheating would be permanent and would carry across all Call of Duty titles from Modern Warfare (2019) onward.
For a community long-plagued by the frustration of hackers, this new era of transparency and aggressive, real-time enforcement is a powerful signal that the developers are listening. As Activision concluded, they are "dedicated to transparency, community feedback, and constant evolution in our fight for fair play." And for players, that’s a mission they can finally get behind.
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