Cheat Developer Closes, Raising Player Suspicions

Call of Duty cheat provider Phantom Overlay has reportedly announced it is shutting down.

In a statement shared on Telegram, the company declined to explain the reasons behind its immediate closure, adding, "This is not an exit scam, and no external party could force me to scam my customers. All services will remain updated, secure, and accessible for an additional 32 days."

Phantom Overlay is extending its services for 32 days to ensure customers with 30-day keys receive the full value they paid for. The developer also mentioned offering partial refunds for lifetime key holders.

Notably, several other cheat providers rely on Phantom Overlay's infrastructure, so the sudden shutdown may have wider repercussions throughout the cheating ecosystem.

"I can't believe it!!" exclaimed one player on X, formerly Twitter (via Dexerto). "Does this mean the Season 3 anti-cheat update is actually going to work?!"

Others were more skeptical, with one user commenting: "This is just a rebrand. They operate multiple brands with the same backend. The cheating won’t stop."

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Activision recently acknowledged that its Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 anti-cheat measures "did not hit the mark" during the Season 1 launch, especially in Ranked Play. The company had originally promised to remove cheaters from the game within one hour of their first match.

However, Activision assured players that its Ricochet Anti-Cheat systems have improved, now banning cheaters more quickly and removing over 19,000 accounts recently.

Many believe the widespread cheating is harming competitive multiplayer, and Activision has faced criticism for its handling of the issue. The problem became so severe that last month, with Season 2's launch, Activision allowed console Ranked players to disable crossplay with PC users.

Cheating is not exclusive to Call of Duty, but it has become a more serious issue for Activision since the free-to-play battle royale Warzone launched in 2020. Despite investing heavily in anti-cheat technology and securing several high-profile legal victories against cheat developers, fans remain skeptical of the Ricochet system's effectiveness.

In related news, earlier today we reported that more information about the return of Call of Duty Warzone's popular Verdansk map is expected on March 10.