Black Ops 6 declared the 'biggest Call of Duty ever,' as Activision deals with cheaters

Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is widely considered one the best entries the long-running franchise has seen in years, from its campaign to its competitive multiplayer modes and the all-new zombies action. And now we can add 'biggest Call of Duty ever' to its accolades, with Activision announcing that Black Ops 6 has had the biggest 'first 30 days' of any CoD.

"In the first 30 days from launch, together you made Black Ops 6 the biggest Call of Duty ever," Activision's post reads. Regarding three key metrics: total players, the number of hours played, and the number of multiplayer matches, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 sits on top of the Call of Duty mountain.

However, things aren't great for all Black Ops 6 and Warzone players, as Activision's RICOCHET Anti-Cheat initiative, which combats Call of Duty cheaters, is working overtime.

Over 19,000 bans have been issued since Call of Duty Ranked Play was introduced, with Activision confirming that it's conducting "hourly sweeps to remove cheaters from the Ranked Play mode and leaderboard." Naturally, the more popular an online shooter or competitive title becomes, the more prone it is to cheating and some gamers not playing fair.

Activision's RICOCHET anti-cheat suite includes kernel-mode drivers and access to low-level system features. However, it's still criticized for not dealing with cheaters fast enough.

Activision notes that its AI systems are continuously being optimized to accelerate enforcement, which is a crucial part of the process - being able to swing the ban hammer swiftly. Banning an account days or weeks later is widely seen as too little too late or a formality. One of RICOCHET's goals is to identify cheating, ban users within minutes, and do the fun thing of putting them all together in a match.