Ahead of the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Activision discussed the “multi-billion dollar market” behind video game cheating.
Cheating is an issue that plagues almost all online games, and Call of Duty is particularly notorious in this regard—a reputation further cemented by its free-to-play battle royale mode, Warzone. Like other game companies, Activision has been engaged in an uphill battle against cheaters and those who profit from creating cheats, a struggle further complicated by the advent of generative AI.
To illustrate the severity of the problem, Activision’s “Team Ricochet” published a blog post detailing the business operations behind this illicit industry.
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Activision stated: “Cheat sellers have built a massive, multi-billion dollar market comprising resellers, subscription services, rebranded cheats, illicit accounts, spoofing tools, and organized distribution networks.” The company cited recent analysis indicating that cheat subscription services for just 15 games generate approximately $3.5 billion in annual revenue. Activision estimates that when account trading, boosting services, spoofing, and other related offerings are included, the total annual market size for the cheating industry reaches roughly $8.5 billion (approximately 56.93 billion RMB).
Activision previously released body-cam footage showing a Call of Duty cheat creator receiving a cease-and-desist notice—part of the company’s legal enforcement efforts. However, Activision is also combating cheat creators through “technical detection” methods. The company reported that it has “disrupted” over 375 reseller operations, issued more than 80 cease-and-desist demands, and assisted in shutting down 31 major cheat providers. Activision stated: “Cheat sellers often use marketing rhetoric and social media posts to make their operations appear stable, even when they are actually under immense pressure. We have seen developers cite reasons like ‘having the flu,’ ‘undergoing surgery,’ or ‘being in a car accident’ to explain months-long service outages, rather than admitting their cheats had been detected and were no longer reliable. These messages are standard tactics used to reassure customers, all while our systems continue to disrupt their networks.”
Activision also noted that the cost of cheating is rising as the company maintains pressure on this ecosystem. Even so, some of the figures released by Activision are staggering. Given that subscriptions for premium cheats can exceed $100—plus additional recurring fees for masking tools—some cheaters might spend over $1,000 a year on cheating alone. Hardware and services related to DMA (Direct Memory Access) devices drive costs even higher.
Ultimately, of course, results are what matter. Most people realize that Activision cannot completely eradicate cheating in Call of Duty, but players hope that—at the very least—cheating in Modern Warfare 4 will be less prevalent than it has been in recent years.