Team RICOCHET has intensified their fight against cheaters in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, issuing over 228,000 bans since the game's launch, with 23% of cheaters removed before playing their first match. In a comprehensive anti-cheat update ahead of Season 03, the team announced brand-new security systems, KillCam UI improvements, and a Ranked Play SR refund system for players who lose matches to confirmed cheaters.
RICOCHET's War on Cheaters: 20+ Cheat Makers Shut Down
As Season 03 approaches for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Team RICOCHET has revealed some impressive statistics in their ongoing battle against cheaters. Since the game's launch, they've successfully put over 20 cheat developers and dozens of resellers out of business, significantly disrupting the cheating marketplace.
The enforcement numbers are equally striking, with more than 228,000 bans issued. Perhaps most impressively, 23% of cheaters were identified and removed before they could even complete their first match, demonstrating the proactive approach the anti-cheat team is taking.
Season 03 Security Enhancements: New Systems Incoming
When Season 03 launches in early April 2025, players can expect significant security upgrades. While specific details are understandably limited for security reasons, the team confirmed they're launching brand-new anti-cheat systems alongside major updates to existing ones, including improved aim bot detection and enhanced machine learning analysis of game replays.
The RICOCHET team has promised a follow-up progress report during Season 03 Reloaded (mid-season) to detail the results of these new security measures.
KillCam UI Overhaul: Reducing False Reports
One of the most tangible changes coming in Season 03 is a significant update to the KillCam user interface. The RICOCHET team noted that over 60% of cheater reports in Warzone target console players, despite data showing console cheating represents an extremely small percentage of actual cheaters compared to PC.
To address this disconnect, the updated KillCam will display more contextual information about what advantages an opponent might have had during an engagement, including:
- Live Ping indicators (when an enemy had you marked via line-of-sight)
- UAV effects (when you appeared on the enemy's minimap)
- Unsuppressed weapon indicators (when firing revealed your position)
- Detailed damage breakdown by attacker
Additional updates planned throughout the season will add even more context, including equipment, killstreaks, field upgrades, contracts, and perks that influenced an engagement.
What's Limited Matchmaking and How Does It Work?
The blog post also clarified the purpose of Limited Matchmaking (LMM), often called "shadowban lobbies" by the community. These special matchmaking pools are used to isolate suspicious accounts while they're investigated, affecting less than 0.15% of the player population.
Important notes about Limited Matchmaking:
- Being placed in LMM doesn't confirm cheating but indicates suspicious activity
- If one party member is in LMM, the entire party plays in these lobbies
- Season 02 introduced faster review processes to reduce time spent in LMM
Ranked Play Gets Retroactive SR Adjustments
Perhaps the most welcome change for competitive players is the new Retroactive SR Adjustment system coming to Ranked Play shortly after Season 03 launches. This system will:
- Refund Skill Rating (SR) to players who recently lost matches against confirmed cheaters
- Remove SR from players detected playing with cheaters
- Scrub leaderboards of accounts that earned SR illegitimately
Initially, the system will examine the previous two weeks of matches when a cheater is banned, though the team will monitor this timeframe for potential adjustments. A similar system will come to Warzone when Ranked Play launches there.
Crackdown on Teaming and Account Security
The RICOCHET team is also taking action against "teaming" – the practice of intentionally working with opponents to grief other players or boost accounts. A Ranked Play-specific banwave is being issued against detected teamers, with SR and leaderboard placements wiped and restrictions from future Ranked Play.
Additionally, new account security measures are being implemented shortly after Season 03 launches. Accounts linking to new platforms may need to complete a security challenge to verify control, with gameplay blocked on that platform until verification is complete.
Do Multiple Reports Impact Enforcement?
The team also addressed some common community questions, clarifying that spam reporting has no impact on enforcement decisions. In fact, they noted that excessive reporting may actually reduce trust in future reports from accounts that abuse the system and could result in punitive measures.
With Season 03 launching in early April 2025 and bringing the return of Verdansk to Warzone alongside these anti-cheat improvements, players can look forward to a more secure gaming experience with better tools to understand suspicious-looking gameplay and fairer outcomes in Ranked Play.