Activision: COD Elite will kill cheaters

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 31 May, 2011

Dedicated staff ensure nothing "exposed".

Amid the ongoing Sony hack furore, Activision has pledged to ensure that Call of Duty: Elite, the new multiplayer-focused service set to launch alongside Modern Warfare 3 this November, will help rid the game of cheaters.

Call of Duty games have in recent years been prone to exploits, some of which have ruined the online experience of legitimate players by altering their statistics.

But Activision told Eurogamer the Beachhead-developed Elite should ensure such problems are a thing of the past.

"From a developer standpoint we put an extremely high premium on security," Beachhead boss Chacko Sonny said.

"We have dedicated staff focusing on that from an architectural standpoint, making sure nothing we design is exposed, and we're also making sure that we're securing the events and competitions that will eventually become part of the service."

"If we just built a platform and a technology, all those edge cases would still exist," added Activision digital boss Jamie Berger.

"That's why we have to have this big administrative team there to add the human level of understanding, and assessing individual cases. No machine will be able to tell if another guy cheated in the game. We need people to arbitrate."

In January Infinity Ward blamed Sony and the PlayStation 3's compromised security on PS3 Modern Warfare 2 exploits and hacks.

At the time Infinity Ward promised gamers that it would not rely on platform holders to stop hackers from ruining its future projects.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 10 months ago

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  • jonharrispro #1 12 months ago

    agreed

  • captain_Carl #2 12 months ago

    Just like all those patches did

  • M_of_the_sys #3 12 months ago

    "COD Elite will kill cheaters"

    That's a bit harsh isn't it?

  • PixelPirate #4 12 months ago

    Dont the MW games usually have a megaton of online problems and cheaters on release?

    How is a premium service that not everyone is paying for possibly going to stop it?

    Doesnt add up. Sounds like the usual PR nonsense to me

  • nuanimal #5 12 months ago

    Does anyone else find the character models in the vid, has the most gormless exressions ever seen in a video game?

  • Beano #6 12 months ago

    People playing to play a peer-to-peer based online shooter online, should have their head examined. Dedicated servers will also help them fight cheaters - but nooooo. Unfortunately the COD-drones will rush out and reward Activision for their greed.

  • Architect_z #7 12 months ago

    Instead of killing them can they still play only be stripped of their cheats, and only be allowed to use a gun which fires a boxing glove on a spring?

  • Beano #8 12 months ago

    "COD Elite will kill wallets"

    *fixed*

  • jumpdeveraux #9 12 months ago

    Considering "Elite" is also compatible with Black Ops I guess we can expect some uber patch for BlOps to implement a dazzling array of nigh impenetrable cheat protection then can we Activision?

    I'm guess some aimbots/wallhacks day one of release followed by some utterly messed up scoreboards. Acti's direct debits will work just fine however.

  • bad09 #10 12 months ago

    On PC their very own IWnet couldn't stop anything. Why is it different now? Because they are charging and HAVE to give a shit?

    Will that mean if you don't cough up for elite you still play with hackers and cheaters?

  • Cronan #11 12 months ago

    "Prone to exploits"?

    Fuck me, has anyone tried having a game of Modern Warfare lately, pretty cool, if you like flying around in zero-G with unlimited ammo.

    I'll believe it when I see it.

  • mr2ange #12 12 months ago

    Cheats, Killing them is a little pointless no?

    If it were my choice i'd kick them out of the game, force them to listen to a complation mix tape of over 1000 farts, before being able to rejoin - and when they do, they realise that listening to all those farts was just a waste of time, as they are banned for life.

    Could even use kinect to make sure they were sitting there listening.

  • dingo75 #13 12 months ago

    Will some SEAL team enter their houses and execute them on the spot?

  • Zaiz #14 12 months ago

    Activision I suspect that your service will be cracked and hacked entirely. At least you'll be able to see cheaters when they prestige all the way before the day the game comes out.

  • Seele #15 12 months ago

    I hate cheating cods.

  • CaptainQuint #16 12 months ago

    Y'know, some online games (and their developers) root-out and BAN cheaters for FREE.

  • NeverWinter78 #17 12 months ago

    So are they saying if we want cheat free games we have to pay more ! With games like gears 3 deus ex the new batman battlefield 3 and assassins creed games coming out around the same time who dont charge extra activision and infinity ward can all go %*%} them selves

  • homerramone #18 12 months ago

    if the leaderboards only ever showed you your friends... then there would be no cheating.. because the only people you would be able to 'impress' would be people who knew you cheated.
    And anyone else wouldnt care.. because they wouldnt see you on their leaderboard anyway..

    But i think it maybe people are more concerned about people that cheat in an online match than some saddos thats hack leaderboard entries.

  • homerramone #19 12 months ago

    if the leaderboards only ever showed you your friends... then there would be no cheating.. because the only people you would be able to 'impress' would be people who knew you cheated.
    And anyone else wouldnt care.. because they wouldnt see you on their leaderboard anyway..

    But i think it maybe people are more concerned about people that cheat in an online match than some saddos thats hack leaderboard entries.

  • skabba1972 #20 12 months ago

    Well thats that then. Was thinking about maybe purchasing but they can stick it right up there arse. I aint paying to play a shooter!

  • james-mw3-mw3 #21 10 months ago

    To promote Modern Warfare 3, Activision will be holding a two day event called Call of Duty: Experience! The official Call of Duty: MW3 site was launched on May 18. It currently has an interactive map that was seen in the MW3 teaser trailers. I'm sure we will see the perks soon.