Call of Duty Anti-Cheat Chief Explains Why Activision Uses Shadow Bans Before Permanent Bans for Suspected Cheaters

The senior director of Call of Duty's anti-cheat system has shed light on why Activision chooses to shadow ban players rather than immediately issuing permanent bans.

For years, cheating and anti-cheat measures in major games like Call of Duty have been a source of tension. Anti-cheat systems are not flawless; they can make mistakes, accidentally banning innocent players, cause complications with game launches (such as Secure Boot requirements), and place some players in ambiguous 'limited matchmaking' pools—commonly known as shadow bans.

Much about how anti-cheat operates remains mysterious, so IGN spoke with David Andrews, Call of Duty's senior director of game security, to gain insight into the Ricochet anti-cheat system. In our exclusive interview, we asked why Activision opts for shadow bans on suspected cheaters instead of outright banning them immediately.

"We use limited matchmaking to isolate suspicious accounts while other checks are running or we're waiting for additional data," Andrews explained. "This allows us to review the account more comprehensively and understand what's really happening. It's a stopgap measure to remove them immediately without permanent or irrevocable impact on the account and player, giving us time to determine the situation and either restore them if it was a false alarm."

Andrews also noted that Activision employs various methods to handle suspected cheaters, using techniques like shadow banning to potentially rehabilitate players and give them a chance to continue playing without issues.

"We've also used limited matchmaking for rehabilitation, telling players, 'You can't engage in that behavior, but you can come back if you stop,'" he said. "We have many enforcement tools: limited matchmaking, ranked play bans, remote play bans, temporary and permanent account suspensions, and hardware bans. We can do all sorts of things, and for each type of cheating, we evaluate which approach makes sense for that group. Can they be rehabilitated? Are we fully confident? Is more research needed? We'll determine the appropriate action."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches next month, and Infinity Ward aims to be responsive to player feedback. Anti-cheat is crucial to the game's perception, and the team tested Ricochet's MW4 implementation during the recent beta. It did result in an accidental ban of a former pro player, but Call of Duty's communications team resolved the issue and confirmed it was a mistake.

Call of Duty, especially the free-to-play battle royale Warzone, has a reputation for cheating. Activision has invested significant time, money, and effort in response, even taking cheat makers to court, though like all developers, it faces an uphill battle in the war on cheaters.