Skip to main content

Call of Duty’s new ‘cloaking’ feature trolls cheaters

Activision has announced a new anti-cheat measure for Call of Duty: Vanguard that is certain to frustrate cheaters and give everyone else a hearty laugh.

The company announced in a blog post that a fresh feature called “cloaking” will serve as a hilarious method of exposing and punishing cheaters by rendering them unable to see other players in matches. Everyone else in the match can still see the cheater, though, allowing them an opportunity to dish out plenty of in-game punishment on the helpless scoundrel. Providing the community a chance to get payback against ne’er-do-wells is an interesting move and one that is certain to result in some great fun.

Recommended Videos

In addition to cloaking, Activision also shared that “any security enforcement that results in a ban to a player will be reflected in the leaderboard for each title.” In other words, anyone caught cheating will be removed and unable to place on the global leaderboards, solving the frustrations many players had with cheaters occupying top-ranking spots.

The post also pointed out that another 54,000 additional accounts have been banned for cheating — news that comes on the heels of another recent ban wave that found and removed over 90,000 accounts. Activision hopes this crackdown lets players know that it is taking things seriously, but the company has asked that players continue to make use of the game’s reporting system, calling the information “invaluable” in the ongoing battle against those who wish to ruin games for everyone else.

These anticheat measures are now available for Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Activision has stated that they will come to Warzone following “a period of examining how these updates are functioning.”

Billy Givens
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. He started as a…
War is hell, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 makes it a carnival game
Zombies shambling in Black Ops 6.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who play Call of Duty and those who don’t. For three glorious hours, I was finally part of the former. Then it all came crashing down in a hail of gunfire.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now and it's being hailed as a return to greatness for the struggling series. Critics have praised features like its game-changing Omnimovement and welcomed the return of round-based Zombies mode. The star attraction, though, is this installment’s campaign. After years of experimental failures, Black Ops 6 delivers a straightforward political thriller full of eclectic missions. It’s a great premise, one that allows developer Raven to goof around with a “gone rogue” story featuring characters like Russel Adler.

Read more
The best Call of Duty games, ranked
Soldier holding weapon in Modern Warfare II.

Few video game series are as influential and popular as Call of Duty. The annualized franchise throws players into fast-paced battles across various historical time periods -- along with fictional eras as well. Call of Duty has taken us to World War II, the Cold War, a modern setting, and even to the future.

Although it's one of the most successful video game franchises out there, Call of Duty's quality varies significantly from game to game, with some fantastic entries in the series, but many mediocre ones as well. But which Call of Duty games are worth your time and which ones should you skip? To answer that question, we've ranked all the mainline entries in the series, with details about why you should or shouldn't play a particular game.

Read more
All Call of Duty games in order, by release date and chronologically
e3 2021 missing games call of duty

Call of Duty is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. The original Call of Duty set a new standard for first-person shooters, the series' online multiplayer work has been a must-play for gamers for nearly two decades, and Warzone has been one of the top battle royale experiences of late.

The series has covered a lot of warfare, from World War II to futuristic fictional wars in 2187, but never in any set order. Players have been bounced around from era to era with each annual COD release and even revisited the same conflicts multiple times from different perspectives through direct sequels and remakes.

Read more