Call of Duty anti-cheat causes hackers to 'hallucinate'

Encountering a cheater in Call of Duty is hugely frustrating. Whether it’s in Modern Warfare 2 or in Warzone, attempting to battle an opponent capable of spotting a target through walls is impossible to counter.

As attention turns towards the Season 4 Reloaded update, fans continue uncovering game-breaking bugs. So far, a drop plane bug is causing players to plummet towards the ground while another exploit provides an easy path to earn plenty of ranked SR.

In Activision’s latest effort to combat cheaters, improvements to Ricochet anti-cheat have caused hackers to hallucinate during a match.

Call of Duty anti-cheat hallucinations

On June 29, 2023, the team behind Ricochet published a blog post showcasing new methods to tackle hackers ruining matches in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone. The most notable addition is a further mitigation known as hallucinations.

Credit: Activision

The post reads: “Hallucinations place decoy characters within the game that can only be detected by cheaters that have been specifically flagged by our system. Hallucinations can be deployed both as a method of mitigation for verified cheaters or, in secret, as a detection for suspicious players.”

So the decoy acts like a legitimate player, it clones the behaviour of a player that’s already in the match, making it impossible for a hacker to tell whether the clone is real or fake. Legitimate players can’t see the clones either, so if there’s anyone that’s shooting into thin air, they’ve outed themselves as a cheater.

• Check out: Best Warzone ranked play loadouts

In addition to the arrival of hallucinations, Team Ricochet is taking action against false reporting to prevent players from falsely accusing legitimate players of hacking. New notifications will alert players if a report is under investigation or if a ban has been applied.

If the hallucinations work, they’re a major step forward in the ongoing battle against hackers looking to ruin the fun. For more Call of Duty, check out our guides showcasing the best Warzone SO-14 loadout and the best Modern Warfare 2 ranked play loadouts for competitive action.