Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will mandate TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot to combat cheating. Discover Activision's anti-cheat strategy and how it impacts legacy PC systems.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Developers Prepare for the Next Era
TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot Become Mandatory for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Activision, the developer behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, has confirmed that future titles will require TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) and Secure Boot. In an August 6 post on the official Call of Duty website, Team Ricochet, the anti-cheat division, outlined its strategy to tackle cheating.
According to Activision's support FAQ, TPM 2.0 is "a hardware-based security technology for Windows PCs." Secure Boot complements this by ensuring only authorized software runs on a player's system.
These security measures are already used by major multiplayer titles like the upcoming Battlefield 6 and Riot Games' Valorant to prevent disruptive hacks such as aimbots and wallhacks.
Activision's phased implementation begins with Season 05 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone. While not yet compulsory for these games, players will receive notifications about future requirements, particularly for Black Ops 7.
Team Ricochet emphasized, "These hardware-level protections are crucial to our anti-cheat initiative. We encourage all players to enable them now." Activation guidelines are available in Activision's Player Support article.
Legacy Systems Face Compatibility Challenges
While Black Ops 6 and Warzone currently don't require these features, they will be essential for Black Ops 7. This excludes older PCs, as TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot need at least 8th Gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 2000-series processors.
Despite rumors about potential performance impacts, Activision clarified that "these features only activate during system and game startup, remaining inactive during gameplay."
So far, the gaming community has responded positively, especially since Battlefield 6's successful open beta—which also requires these security features.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. For the latest updates, explore our related coverage below.
