With Black Ops 7 Ranked Play looming, CoD touts ‘new industry standard for security’ with incoming anti-cheat update

When the first season of Black Ops 7’s Ranked Play ladder begins this week, reinforcements will be in place in the battle against cheaters and hackers.

Call of Duty’s RICOCHET Anti-Cheat will have “a stronger form of remote, cloud-based attestation” ready to go when season two of BO7 begins on Feb. 5, which Activision describes as an “additional layer” of detection that “works before a match begins and builds on existing TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements, setting a new industry standard for security.”

“This approach verifies PC integrity using Microsoft Azure Attestation, directly countering attempts to bypass system-level protections,” Team RICOCHET said. “It’s the most robust attestation technology available in gaming, and bringing it first to Ranked Play helps ensure competitive matches are won on merit. These added protections help stop cheating before a match even begins, so games feel fair from the start.”

In addition to this new layer, RICOCHET will be targeting players who use unapproved third-party devices to gain an edge, like Cronus Zen or XIM Matrix adapters, which the company said “are cheating tools, even if they masquerade as accessibility devices.”

“These devices provide unfair advantages that exploit aim assist and make players question whether they’re losing to a stronger competitor or to a cheater,” Team RICOCHET said. They disrupt fair play, and they’re a violation of Activision’s Security and Enforcement policy.”

Activision said that accessibility is important in CoD, but “these devices are not here to help with accessibility,” claiming instead that “they exist to give cheaters an edge over players competing fairly, and that does not align with our standards for fair play.”

Just like any modern online game, CoD has struggled with cheaters and hackers over the past few years, especially in the free-to-play Warzone mode, but not at all for lack of effort. RICOCHET sees updates constantly, and Activision has gone to the source by suing and shutting down multiple cheat providers over the last few years in its efforts to provide a fair experience. But these cheats are always evolving, and so, too, must the anti-cheat.

For all the info on RICOCHET’s changes ahead of season two launching on Thursday, check out today’s post on the CoD blog.

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Upcoming sci-fi title Menace could be a fun game to try out, especially if you love turn-based tactical battles.

Developed by Overhype Studios, Menace is made by the same folks who gave us Battle Brothers. This guide will help you keep track of the upcoming launch if you’re interested in trying the game out.

Menace release countdown

Menace will go live worldwide on Thursday, Feb. 5. It will be exclusively available on PC due to its (likely) early access state. The following countdown will expire once it goes live.

[hurrytimer id=”1174307″]

The countdown above is based on the following timings.

• 6am PT
• 8am ET
• 9am CT
• 2pm UTC
• 3pm CET

The timings mentioned here are based on the information available on SteamDB. Any change will be duly updated in this guide. As of writing, there’s no way to pre-order Menace, but you can wishlist it on Steam.

What to expect from Menace

Menace puts you in charge of a band of marines, mercenaries and criminals in a distant system cut off from the core Worlds. Your ‘army’ will have to faceoff against warlords, corrupted organizations, and governments to gain the upper hand.

The core gameplay will center around a turn-based tactical approach, which is pretty similar to Battle Brothers. However, the theme and change of environment will need you to adjust your tactics accordingly. While you won’t be fighting directly on the field, every decision depends on you. From choosing requests to sending dispatches to control what your army does on the field – everything depends on you.

It will be interesting to find out if Menace could turn out to be one of the best tactical turn-based titles in 2026. It has been sometime since we have had a big hit in this genre.

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