‘Call of Duty’ anti-cheat: Ricochet tests ‘Damage Shield’ to prevent cheaters from causing 'critical damage' to other players

“Call of Duty” anti-cheat initiative Ricochet confirmed it is testing new mitigation methods to quickly detect potential cheaters’ activities in-game. If they do not get a permanent ban from the game, they may face other punishments such as the new technique called Damage Shield.

As the name suggests, Ricochet aims to protect rule-following “Call of Duty” players from in-game cheaters. Once hackers are detected, this mitigation technique will automatically disable a hacker from causing real damage to legitimate players. Simply put, cheaters’ bullets should not work effectively as designed.

In-game cheating has become a plague for avid and legitimate players of shooter games like “Call of Duty” over the years. Last year, Activision introduced the Ricochet Anti-Cheat initiative that leverages a kernel-level driver on PC, which was later added to “Call of Duty: Vanguard.”

In an earlier post, Activision explained that Ricochet’s kernel-level driver is a “high level of access to monitor and manage software and applications” that are being used to manipulate the game. That means the “Call of Duty” anti-cheat effort no longer solely relies on players reporting cheaters. This technology should then detect when Damage Shield should be applied to potential in-game cheaters.

Aside from allowing real players to stand a chance against people using cheating tools, Damage Shield should also allow Ricochet to collect more information on a gamer’s system for possible heavier penalties. The “Call of Duty” anti-cheat team said interactions, where Damage Shield is activated, are being tracked to ensure it is not applied on legitimate players.

“To be clear, we will never interfere in gunfights between law-abiding community members,” Activision said. The “Call of Duty” publisher added that Damage Shield is still being tested, but it is slated to launch for all players worldwide.

Activision also noted that Damage Shield is just one of the mitigation techniques Activision is working on to boost the “Call of Duty” anti-cheat efforts. But permanent suspension remains the ultimate punishment, especially for repeat offenders. And the publisher reminded players that this sanction is carried out across the franchise, including “Modern Warfare,” “Black Ops Cold War,” and future “Call of Duty” games.