Activision, along with developers Treyarch and Raven Software, have confirmed that the upcoming beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will require PC players to enable Secure Boot. In a post on the official Call of Duty Blog, the developers have noted that Secure Boot will be a hard requirement thanks to the game’s use of the Ricochet Anti-Cheat solution.
Along with Secure Boot, PC players will also need ensure that their hardware is compatible with TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module), both of which will work together with Ricochet Anti-Cheat to block cheating and hacking in the upcoming shooter’s multiplayer modes. These requirements will be present right from the start of the beta on October 2, as well as in the full game when it comes out on November 14.
To help players that might not be technically savvy, Activision has provided guides that will help players figure out their Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 settings.
“We’re striking cheat makers and sellers from every angle: in-game detections that stop them cold, and legal action that dismantles their operations,” wrote the developers in the blog post. “And we’re not stopping there. Significant continued improvements to our systems are coming, including those that detect external hardware.”
“The launch of Black Ops 7 marks the beginning of a new phase for Ricochet Anti-Cheat. We enter it armed with stronger systems and an unwavering commitment to game protection and cheat prevention.”
Interestingly, Call of Duty’s biggest rival in the shooter space – the upcoming Battlefield 6 – also has a hard requirement of Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 for anti-cheat purposes. Battlefield Studios had confirmed this right before it kicked off the open betas for the shooter, noting that Secure Boot is required for the game to have “enhanced security,” as well as for the sake of new anti-cheat features in the EA Javelin Anticheat solution.
Ripple Effect technical director Christian Buhl had also spoken about teaming up with Sony and Microsoft to deter cheating on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in Battlefield 6, especially with the use of external hardware tools like the Cronus Zen.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate that cheating has become a problem within the console space, especially with Cronus Zen machines and everything,” said Buhl. “So we’ve partnered with PlayStation and Microsoft in this regard to kind of do detection. We actually have our own level of macro detection and everything.”
“So if players are doing rapid with Javelin on the PC side. That’s why we’ve enabled Secure Boot to help us combat the never-ending cheater problem. And we are aware of the console cheater issue, and we’re going to be taking cheating very, very seriously here. And we want to preserve as much of the fair play and competitive integrity that we can, because at the end of the day, we want to ensure that you’re having a fair competitive space to play Battlefield 6 in.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. For more details about the upcoming beta, check out our coverage. Also check out the multiplayer trailer from earlier this month.
