Black Ops 7 will require Secure Boot as devs clamp down on cheaters

Call of Duty is looking to crack down even harder on hackers with Black Ops 7 by making Secure Boot required to launch the game going forward.

The battle against hackers is seemingly endless in Call of Duty. Although systems like RICOCHET Anti-Cheat are in place to fight back against cheaters in both multiplayer and Warzone, software is always evolving, and they always find new ways to go unnoticed.

So, the devs are taking things up a notch by forcing players on PC to have both Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 active in order to access the game. The rollout begins with the Black Ops 6 Season 5 update, before taking effect once BO7 arrives.

Black Ops 7 fans on PC will need to Secure Boot to play

For those who don’t know, Secure Boot is a feature that essentially combats any suspicious software, such as cheats, when you turn on any Windows PC. By making it a requirement, it blocks one of the most common methods of using cheats in online games by making them unable to play right off the bat.

This “makes cheating at a hardware level much more difficult,” freeing up RICOCHET to tackle any hackers who slip through the cracks using other means. It’s something that the Battlefield series has already adopted, as the BF6 Open Beta also needs Secure Boot after it was first made a requirement in BF2042.

Activision

By the time Black Ops 7 rolls around, you’ll need to ensure you’ve verified a birth date.

Starting with Black Ops 7, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 will also be a necessity, which makes sure that the boot-up process hasn’t been messed with. Luckily, this is an industry-standard chip that most modern PCs will have by default.

Explaining why now was the right time to make such a big change, the devs said: “We’re committed to providing a fun, fair and secure environment to our community.  This will allow for maximum impact and minimal disruption to PC players.”

How to turn on Secure Boot

1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run Window.
2. Type in msinfo32 and hit Enter.
3. Under System Information, select System Summary.
4. Change BIOS Mode value to UEFI.
5. Change Secure Boot State to On.

As mentioned above, you don’t need to worry about this in Black Ops 6, but you may start seeing notifications urging you to turn it on so you’re fully prepared for Black Ops 7.

Currently, the requirement is only planned for BO7 and isn’t expected to be used in Warzone. However, the devs have said that they’ll “continue to evaluate” whether to add to battle royale as well.