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Activision Films Lawyers Serving Cease-and-Desist to Call of Duty Cheat Maker

The public takedown signals a stepped-up legal and technical push to deter cheat sellers ahead of Modern Warfare 4's launch.

Overview

  • The Call of Duty account posted a short video Friday showing a legal representative delivering a cease-and-desist notice to Ohio-based cheat provider Elocarry, and Elocarry has paused Call of Duty cheat sales.
  • Activision says the Ohio action is part of its global RICOCHET Anti-Cheat campaign and cites disruption of more than 375 reseller operations, over 80 cease-and-desist demands, and 30 vendor shutdowns.
  • The company reported that Modern Warfare 4 beta metrics improved, with lower infection rates, hardware bans that are harder to evade, and faster time-to-action against suspected cheaters.
  • Activision has precedent for taking cheat makers to court, including a 2022 lawsuit that produced a multi-million dollar damages award against EngineOwning.
  • Publicizing doorstep takedowns is meant to deter sellers and reassure players but could raise debate about tactics, and it does not eliminate the long-running cat-and-mouse problem of commercial cheat development.