A new report by cybersecurity firm Surfshark ranks Call of Duty at the top of a list of 15 major multiplayer games based on cheat-related search activity – and Activision has pushed back hard on the methodology.

The problem of hackers in multiplayer games has been ruining fun for decades, but it has intensified in recent times. Measuring its real scale, however, has always been a complicated task. The industry has spent years investing in increasingly complex and invasive anti-cheat systems – kernel-level solutions, artificial intelligence to detect suspicious behavior, and direct legal action against developers of cheat software and hardware. And in the eye of the storm sits Call of Duty. Despite all of this, many players feel the problem is not getting smaller.

Now, cybersecurity company Surfshark has attempted to put some figures on the hacker plague affecting the industry’s most popular multiplayer games. The entity did not count bans, but instead measured the active interest of players in finding cheats for games – and the result is that Call of Duty is, by a significant margin, the game with the most cheaters.

Call of Duty, the Game with the Most Cheaters

The Surfshark report analyzed 15 major multiplayer titles, measuring global monthly search volumes for terms such as “aimbot,” “wallhack,” “cheat,” and “hack,” and cross-referencing those figures with the total player count of each franchise. The result places Call of Duty at the very top of the ranking, with 66 cheat-related searches per 1,000 players. Surprisingly, second place goes to Rocket League with 59 searches per 1,000 players, while Rainbow Six Siege takes third with 53.

The rest of the top 10 features Marvel Rivals (45), PUBG: Battlegrounds (39), and Apex Legends (25), while MOBA titles register the lowest figures in the entire report, averaging just 0.3 searches per 1,000 players – League of Legends barely reaching 0.02 per 1,000 players. Following the uproar on social media, Activision wasted no time issuing a direct response questioning the study’s methodology.

A company spokesperson stated via Insider Gaming: “Cheating is a problem that affects the entire industry and is a challenge we face 24 hours a day. But this study is not about cheating, it is about searches, and it does not include actual cheating data or input from the games it mentions.” The company went further in its statement and issued a warning about how the hacker problem in these popular games should be properly addressed.

“Protecting the player experience requires accurate data, sustained enforcement measures, and players continuing to report suspicious behavior. Sensationalist headlines don’t fix the problem. Consistent action does. We are committed to that.” It is worth recalling that Activision has acted forcefully with Ricochet, though not always with the desired results, which has forced them to improve the anti-cheat system over the years.

Surfshark, for its part, also warned of a collateral risk that often goes unnoticed: players who search for cheat tools frequently end up downloading viruses that can put their computers at serious risk, especially since this type of software typically requires disabling antivirus protection. In any case, this report arrives at a peculiar moment for the company, as in early February Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 received improvements to its cheat detection system.

It is worth remembering that last July, Activision launched a massive ban wave in Call of Duty – so large that cheaters took to social media to complain about it. At its core, the Surfshark study may have significant methodological gaps, and Activision has valid arguments to challenge it. Measuring searches is not the same as counting hackers, but it is no coincidence that it is precisely Call of Duty that generates the most discussion when cheating comes up. What no data can dispute is that the fight against cheaters in Call of Duty shows no end in sight – and players continue to feel that in their matches.

Source: 3DJuegos