According to Activision, Cheaters Earn $8.5 Billion a Year
Activision has detailed one of the biggest problems behind its anti-cheat efforts for Call of Duty. According to the company, cheat software has evolved from simple tools created by a few developers into a much larger economy. An analysis by Intorqa estimates that cheat subscriptions alone generate approximately $3.5 billion in revenue annually, and when services like account selling, boosting, and spoofing are added, the total market is estimated to reach $8.5 billion.
Activision Targets the Structure Behind the Cheat Economy
According to Activision, cheat developers are at the top of this market. Below them are major distributors, direct sellers, and smaller reseller networks. Alongside classic software like aimbot and wallhack, hardware such as Cronus, XIM, and Titan are also considered part of this ecosystem.
The second major area is account selling. Players banned for cheating need new accounts, creating a separate market for the sale of stolen or old accounts and profiles ready for Ranked mode. Spoofing tools cater to users trying to bypass hardware bans.
The company says it has disrupted 375 reseller operations, issued 80 cease and desist orders, and helped shut down 31 major cheat vendors. Legal action targets not only the software but also their revenue streams and payment systems.
Activivision also points out that cheat vendors can be quite deceptive towards their customers. Some vendors repackage detected software under different names, explain long outages with excuses like illness or accidents, and in some cases, collect user data. The company also warns that some cheat software may contain malware.
