Activision Will Let Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone Ranked Console Players Disable Crossplay With PC as Cheating Complaints Ramp Up

Activision has responded to widespread player concerns regarding cheating in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone, announcing plans to allow console players in Ranked Play to disable crossplay with PC players.

The prevalence of cheating since the introduction of Ranked Play in Season 1 of both games last year has become a major point of contention within the Call of Duty community. Many players believe cheating is significantly impacting the competitive experience. Activision previously acknowledged shortcomings in its initial anti-cheat measures for Season 1, admitting that the integration of Ricochet Anti-Cheat fell short of expectations, particularly within Ranked Play.

A recent blog post details Activision's comprehensive anti-cheat strategy for 2025. The company revealed over 136,000 Ranked Play accounts have been banned since the mode's launch. Season 2 will introduce enhanced client-side and server-side detection systems, along with a significant kernel-level driver update. Further advancements are promised for Season 3 and beyond, including a new player authentication system designed to identify and target cheaters more effectively. Specific details on this new system are being withheld to prevent cheat developers from exploiting it.

Season 2 will also introduce a crucial feature: the ability for console players to disable crossplay in Ranked Play for Black Ops 6 and Warzone. This addresses the widely held belief that a significant portion of cheating originates from PC players. Console players have long disabled crossplay in standard Multiplayer; this update extends that option to Ranked Play. Activision will closely monitor the impact of this change and consider further adjustments to maintain game integrity.

While Activision's anti-cheat efforts are frequently met with skepticism, the company has invested heavily in Ricochet Anti-Cheat technology and pursued legal action against cheat developers, resulting in several high-profile victories. Prior to the launch of Black Ops 6, Activision stated its goal was to ban cheaters within an hour of their first match. The game launched with an updated Ricochet kernel-level driver (also implemented in Warzone), incorporating new machine learning systems for faster detection and gameplay analysis to counter aimbots. Activision acknowledges the sophisticated and organized nature of cheat developers, emphasizing their ongoing efforts to identify and remove cheaters from the game.