Activision Adds Wallhack Blocking Tech to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
Server Culling attacks wallhacks at the data layer rather than at detection, which removes the client-side information those cheats depend on and, if it holds up in live play, closes an exploit that anti-cheat teams have struggled with for years.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Activision announced on October 2 that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will use "Server Culling" to counter wallhacks. Positional data for opponents the player cannot see is not sent to the client, so a cheat that reads that data finds nothing. Occlusion layers on buildings and objects block both line of sight and information. The game launches October 23.
The technology works by withholding information rather than detecting misuse. In a normal client, every player's position is sent from the server, which is what a wallhack reads. Server Culling stages occlusion layers across buildings and objects in the maps, and any player behind one of those layers is not transmitted to the client at all. Activision says this keeps matches as intended for legitimate players and makes cheat development harder.
It applies to all multiplayer maps plus DMZ mode and Combat Outpost mode at launch. Activision plans to extend it to maps and modes added from Season 1 onward. VALORANT uses a comparable system called Fog of War, and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS has anti-ESP. Riot Games has said performance problems during Fog of War's development required optimization work, which points to why few shooters have shipped similar systems.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.