Activision has initiated legal proceedings against the developer behind a notorious hack for the Call of Duty franchise. The company claims that the GameHook and Lergware cheats have become so detrimental that many players have abandoned the PC version of Black Ops 6 entirely. These hacks not only enable users to remove opponents from matches but can also crash multiplayer servers, while GameHook provides a cheat that guarantees every shot will hit its target.
Although creating such cheats breaches the terms of service, it usually leads only to account bans. However, Activision alleges that the developers have profited significantly by selling the hacks to other players. “Activision is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that Defendants have received substantial revenue from their activities, to the detriment of Activision and its player community,” the lawsuit states (source).
Activision has identified Ryan Rothholz, known online as Lerggy, as the original creator of Lergware. After sending a cease-and-desist letter in 2023, Activision claims Rothholz merely changed his online alias and distributed the source code to other hackers. The company has also named Collin Gyetvai and Jordan Newcombe Boothey as resellers of the hack.
The gaming giant is pursuing financial restitution as well as punitive damages, claiming the total could amount to millions.
Cheating within Call of Duty has long been an issue, with the community often criticized for its toxic behavior. Although Activision has previously attempted to address cheating—such as implementing shadow bans in Call of Duty: Warzone and obscuring cheaters from view in Call of Duty: Vanguard—these measures have proven insufficient. The problem of cheating continues to plague the online gaming community.
