RICOCHET Carries 70,000 Hardware Bans Into Modern Warfare 4 and Targets Cronus Users

Call of Duty is going after Cronus Zen and XIM users before Modern Warfare 4 even launches. Team RICOCHET has posted its latest anti-cheat update, and it confirms more than 70,000 hardware bans will carry straight into Modern Warfare 4 when it arrives on October 23 AEDT.

The update is part of Activision’s road to launch series, and this week’s focus is simple. Cheating tools like Cronus, plus hardware bans that stop repeat offenders from making a fresh account and jumping straight back in.

70,000 Hardware Bans Carry Into Modern Warfare 4

The big number is 70,000. That’s how many hardware bans Team RICOCHET says are already in place heading into launch, and they won’t reset when the new game goes live. In RICOCHET’s words, “Those hardware bans carry into launch.”

That matters because the classic cheater move has always been to eat an account ban, spin up a new free account and carry on. A hardware ban targets the machine rather than the login, so a new email address doesn’t get you back into lobbies. If you’re one of those 70,000, Modern Warfare 4 is off the table on that hardware from day one.

Cronus Zen and XIM Matrix Bans Hit 5,000 Accounts

The second part of the update is about input devices. Around 5,000 accounts have already been banned for using Cronus Zen, XIM Matrix and similar tools to cheat. These are the plug-in devices that sit between your controller and your console, often used for things like anti-recoil scripts or mouse and keyboard input that looks like a controller.

Activision was clear that using these devices to cheat isn’t allowed, and players who do so face account and console bans. RICOCHET says it judges devices by what they do in a match rather than what they’re called, so renaming a product or switching brands isn’t a way around it.

Activision is also going after the supply side. The team says it has sent cease-and-desist notices to device distributors, which is a sign it wants these tools harder to buy, not just riskier to use.

TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot Required on PC

PC players have a checklist of their own. Modern Warfare 4 requires TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot for online play, and both feed into RICOCHET’s system for verifying that a PC hasn’t been tampered with.

It hasn’t been smooth for everyone. Some PC players have hit Secure Attestation failures, particularly on certain AMD setups and Lenovo systems. Team RICOCHET says it’s working with Microsoft and hardware manufacturers on fixes, so if you’re seeing errors, check your BIOS settings well before October 23.

RICOCHET’s Track Record Since Black Ops 7

This isn’t the first time RICOCHET has made noise before a launch. Back during the Black Ops 7 beta, Activision said RICOCHET stopped 97% of hackers, and the team has kept up regular public updates since.

My view? The Cronus crackdown is the part I care about most. Aimbotters on PC get the headlines, but anyone who plays ranked on console has run into a suspiciously laser-flat spray at some point. If RICOCHET can make those devices a real ban risk, Modern Warfare 4 lobbies will feel a lot fairer than the last few years.

Plenty of players already got a taste of the game in the Modern Warfare 4 beta. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 AEDT on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.

Source: press release from Activision. Images courtesy of Activision.