Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Gets Ricochet Anti-Cheat Upgrades and Mandatory 2FA for Season 3
Activision is rolling out expanded Ricochet anti-cheat protections and a mandatory two-factor authentication requirement for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Warzone with the launch of Season 3.
The changes were confirmed in an official Ricochet anti-cheat blog post published on April 2, 2026, and represent one of the more substantive mid-season integrity updates the franchise has received.
What Ricochet Is Adding in Season 3
Expanded Anti-Cheat Protections
Ricochet is Activision’s proprietary kernel-level anti-cheat system, introduced to detect cheating software — aimbots, wallhacks, recoil scripts — at the driver level before it can interfere with a match. Season 3 extends its detection capabilities with new protections, though Activision has not disclosed the exact technical specifics publicly. That is standard practice — detailing detection methods would hand cheat developers a roadmap for evasion.
The Ricochet team has consistently pushed updates between seasons as cheat developers adapt. Season 3 continues that cycle. The CoD Season 3 Battle Pass detailed the cosmetic rewards launching alongside these security changes. Players who’ve watched ranked Warzone lobbies in recent weeks will recognise the problem: sophisticated cheats have been present in higher-ranked brackets, and Activision’s response here is a direct acknowledgement of that.
Mandatory Two-Factor Authentication
The more immediately impactful change is the 2FA requirement. Starting in Season 3, players will need two-factor authentication enabled on their Activision account to access online multiplayer in Black Ops 7 and Warzone. This is not optional.
2FA adds a verification step — typically a time-sensitive code sent to a phone number or authenticator app — that makes it far harder to create throwaway accounts in bulk. Cheat operators rely on cheap, disposable accounts to cycle after bans. Requiring 2FA raises the friction cost of doing that significantly. It does not eliminate the problem, but it does make mass account farming meaningfully harder and more expensive for cheat services.
Why the 2FA Requirement Is a Significant Move
Account-cycling is the backbone of the cheating economy in games like Warzone. Once a cheater’s account is hardware or shadow-banned, the standard countermove is switching to a fresh unverified account within minutes. 2FA cuts into that loop.
Competitors have taken similar steps. Riot Games implemented mandatory 2FA for Valorant ranked queues and credited it as a contributing factor in reducing smurf and cheat account volume in ranked play. Activision applying comparable pressure to the Call of Duty ecosystem is a reasonable escalation given the scale of its player base.
The requirement will affect any account that has not yet set up 2FA. Players who log in after Season 3 launches without it enabled will be prompted to complete the setup before accessing online modes.
What SEA Players Need to Do Before Season 3
If you play Black Ops 7 or Warzone in the SEA region, the action item is straightforward: set up 2FA on your Activision account now rather than waiting for Season 3 to force the prompt mid-session.
Head to your Activision account settings at www.callofduty.com and enable two-factor authentication under the security section. A phone number or authenticator app like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator both work. The process takes under two minutes.
For players on PC in the SEA competitive scene, this is a net positive regardless of how it affects your queue times at launch — cleaner lobbies at higher ranks are worth a two-minute account setup.
