Activision Reports Cheating in Gaming Generates £6.3 Billion Annually
- Activision claims cheating generates approximately £6.3 billion ($8.5 billion) annually in account sales and services.
- Team Ricochet reported that cheat subscriptions from 15 games alone account for £2.6 billion ($3.5 billion).
- Activision is actively targeting cheat vendors, having disrupted over 375 operations and issued more than 80 cease-and-desist orders.
Activision has revealed substantial figures related to cheating within its gaming ecosystem, estimating annual revenue of around £6.3 billion ($8.5 billion) derived from account sales, boosting, and spoofing services. This information was detailed in a blog post by the company’s cheat mitigation team, Team Ricochet.
Team Ricochet reported that cheat subscriptions alone across 15 of Activision’s titles contribute approximately £2.6 billion ($3.5 billion) to this figure. In a related tweet, Call of Duty stated, “RICOCHET Anti-Cheat doesn’t end when your match does,” emphasizing their global fight against cheat sellers.
RICOCHET Anti-Cheat doesn’t end when your match does.
Cheat makers operate around the world. So do we. We’re taking the fight directly to cheat sellers.
Last weekend during the Closed Beta, we went to Ohio to takedown Elocarry.
That’s not an isolated case… pic.twitter.com/IP69qlGgDD— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) August 28, 2026
In its ongoing crackdown, Activision has claimed to have “paired technical detection with sustained legal action to destabilise the cheat ecosystem at every level.” This has led to the disruption of over 375 reseller operations, the issuance of more than 80 cease-and-desist demands, and the shutdown of 31 primary cheat vendors.
Furthermore, the company stated that cheat sellers often mislead customers about product performance, attributing detection and outages to personal issues, rather than admitting their cheats have been compromised. Costs for cheating have reportedly increased, with subscriptions above £75 ($100) and some individuals spending upwards of £750 ($1,000) annually.
Activision concluded that “cheating is a losing investment,” emphasizing that each detected and banned cheat user takes their financial commitment with them, noting that the Ricochet Anti-Cheat system is designed to make cheating increasingly difficult, risky, and expensive. “The ecosystem keeps changing. So do we.”
In a demonstration of their commitment, last month Activision shared footage showing a legal representative delivering a cease-and-desist order to a known Call of Duty cheat seller at their Ohio residence.
Looking ahead, Activision has announced that Modern Warfare 4 will be launched on October 23, 2026, across multiple platforms including PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch 2, encouraging pre-orders through a $5 in-store credit incentive.
News Courtesy of Eurogamer
