Activision says Season 1 fixed Warzone cheating — but there’s a catch

Why this matters right now

This caught my attention because Warzone has spent years oscillating between “unplayable” nights and temporary fixes. Activision’s claim that Season 1 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launched as the “cleanest Warzone launch in Call of Duty history” is the kind of statement that matters only if it translates into fewer cheaters in your matches – not just press conference numbers. Season 1’s Ricochet anti‑cheat upgrade pairs technical gating (TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot) with smarter detection models and anti‑boosting enforcement. That combination could finally make a meaningful dent – but expect real friction for some legitimate players, and continued cat‑and‑mouse with cheat vendors.

• Key takeaways: stronger PC security gating, improved aimbot and behavioral detection, and tougher anti‑boosting enforcement.
• TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot are now required on PC – enable them or you’ll be blocked from Warzone.
• Fewer obvious cheaters and faster enforcement are likely, but expect BIOS headaches, false positives, and more ban waves.

What changed and why it matters

Activision expanded Ricochet’s remit in three concrete ways: it made TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot firmware checks mandatory at launch, deployed improved behavioral and aimbot detection models, and rolled out stronger boosting detection that targets both buyers and sellers. TPM and Secure Boot aren’t cosmetic — they make it harder for cheats to inject at the kernel level or spoof system state. Better behavioral models identify dodgy movement/aim statistical outliers earlier in a match, reducing in‑game impact. And cracking down on boosting targets the commerce side of cheating, which has been propping up illicit progression markets for years.

What you need to do right now (PC and console)

• PC checklist: Open tpm.msc to confirm TPM 2.0, enable Secure Boot in your UEFI/BIOS (may be labeled fTPM or PTT), update your motherboard firmware if needed, and convert legacy MBR installs to GPT if prompted (Windows’ MBR2GPT tool helps here). Activision says a Secure Attestation Wizard is coming later in Season 01 to simplify verification.
• Console players: You don’t need to change firmware — consoles already enforce secure boot at the platform level — but you’ll still benefit from improved server‑side detection and anti‑boosting actions.
• All players: Don’t buy accounts or use boosting. Collect match IDs and evidence when reporting suspected cheaters to speed enforcement.

The realities: promises vs. friction

Activision’s narrative is believable because they’ve paired technical blocks with enforcement: they’ve publicly disrupted cheat vendors and reseller operations in the past year. But technical gating brings immediate headaches — some legitimate players will need BIOS updates, disk conversions, or even OEM support. There’s also the risk of false positives if popular overlays or streaming tools hook into game processes. Activision insists it will provide tutorials and a verification wizard, but those only reduce friction if the tools work across the messy hardware ecosystem.

How this actually changes gameplay and community health

If the claims hold, matches should feel cleaner: fewer blatant aimbots, less boosted progression, and more meaningful rewards for legitimate grind. Competitive teams and streamers should still audit their toolchains — the faster enforcement means accounts that previously slipped by could suddenly get rolled back or banned. For casual players, the biggest benefit will be not running into the same obvious cheater multiple times in a session. For the community, hurting the booster/reseller pipeline matters as much as catching individual hackers.

What to watch next

• The rollout of the Secure Attestation Wizard — this should make compliance easier and reveal how many players are affected.
• Ban waves and enforcement notices — expect Activision to follow detection with account actions.
• Motherboard‑specific compatibility issues; check vendor BIOS notes and Activision support pages for hotfixes.
• Cheat vendors’ attempts to bypass TPM/Secure Boot — countermeasures will follow, keeping the cat‑and‑mouse alive.

TL;DR: Season 1’s Ricochet upgrades are the most serious effort Activision has taken to clean Warzone in a while — combining firmware gating, smarter detection, and anti‑boosting enforcement. That should measurably improve match quality, but it also introduces real setup friction for some PC players and won’t make cheaters disappear overnight. If you play on PC, enable TPM and Secure Boot now, keep your overlays tidy, and be ready for ban waves. If Activision keeps updating models and follows through on support tools, this could be the launch window that finally tips the balance toward fairer matches.