One of the bigger news items in the Call of Duty multiplayer gaming space is its new Ricochet Anti-Cheat. The proprietary program is a kernel-level driver that is designed to tip the scales back into the fair gamers' hands, as titles like Call of Duty: Warzone have been littered with cheaters. However, just a day after the anti-cheat was officially unveiled, it is rumored that Richochet has already been leaked to hackers.
Call of Duty has had a big issue with hackers over the past couple of years. Fans have been clamoring for a true anti-cheat program to be added to the game, so the announcement that one will be ready for the Call of Duty: Vanguard integration with Warzone was met with joy and sighs of relief. However, if information from a Call of Duty insider is true, Ricochet may already be in the hands of hackers.
There were rumors via Twitter and cheating websites that the new Call of Duty Richochet anti-cheat had been leaked. Although images were being shared online, nothing was confirmed. With that in mind, Twitter user and Call of Duty insider @ModernWarzone apparently reached out to some sources and now believes that the Ricochet leak is real. ModernWarzone has been had inside information on Call of Duty since before the announcement of Call of Duty: Warzone, so while their report about the leak is not full confirmation, it certainly gives credence to the news.
ModernWarzone claims that multiple anonymous sources corroborated the leak story, which would mean that hackers now have a jump start on trying to dissect Call of Duty's new game-changing anti-cheat. One thing that is important to note is that the apparently leaked files are a few weeks old, meaning Call of Duty may already have a more current version. Regardless, a leaked anti-cheat would be concerning.
If the leak is true, no one yet knows how or why it got into the hands of the hacking community. One theory has to do with the Trojan Horse idea. It could be that fake files were leaked purposely, therefore throwing off hackers who will now be spending weeks working on something that won't work. Meanwhile, with Call of Duty's now strong stance against hackers, the files could be set up so that when Richochet goes live and players attempt to use new cheats they've developed, the program will be ready to let loose the ban hammer.
In general, the news of the anti-cheat leaking does not seem positive, but the end results will likely not be devastating. Ricochet is supposed to be able to evolve and learn on the fly, meaning a hack that worked for a moment at launch should be detected rather quickly. The hope is that this anti-cheat will be able to shut down a massive portion of the cheating taking place in Call of Duty. If the rumors are true, Ricochet is just being put to work a little earlier than expected.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.