In this regard, outfitting the game with new hardware requirements for cheating resolution on the part of Activision and the development teams of Call of Duty marks a huge change for PC installation of the forthcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Slated for late 2025, it will be the first to require Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM 2.0) and Secure Boot. This further demonstrates a movement to counter-cheating actively, with emphasis given to moving away from known software-only solutions and into something more hardware-based. This decision would mainly impact the PC gaming community, especially those on old systems or a different hardware configuration.
Basically, this initiative must build a more secure ground for the game. Trusted Platform Module 2.0 is a standardized hardware security module within modern PCs. It runs secure cryptoprocessor functions that deal with sensitive data thus creating a tamper-resistant environment. Secure Boot, on the other hand, is a safeguard of the UEFI firmware that ensures a PC can only load software that has been digitally signed by trusted vendors. Through this, it circumvents the operation of unauthorized applications during startup. By requiring both, Activision hopes to set up barriers of protection right from the beginning of the boot process of the PC. All in all, this renders the job of a low-level cheat to go undetected even harder.
The requirements aim to harden the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat system already in existence. Since its inception, RICOCHET has been central to the Call of Duty experience. Their kernel-level drivers and machine learning technologies serve to observe and banish cheaters from the game. With the addition of TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, Activision has reinforced their layers of protection. The beauty of this is that it doubles the difficulty for cheat developers because they would now have to bypass both software and hardware security features. This also sends an unmistakable message that the company is firm in upholding the rules in order to preserve the sanctity of its multiplayer.
The aforementioned good thing is a deterrent to cheating but has raised some concerns regarding user’s access. Most users of the PC player base would have these enabled by default in modern systems. However, for those on older PCs or those who have disabled the above features, a change in their system settings or an upgrade to their hardware may be considered. For its strengths in providing a cheat-free environment, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements from Activision do come with challenges for some players in terms of new tech. The potential full effect of this ruling on game constituency will now start to be felt as the time to launch the inception of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 draws ever so close.
