Activision is suing the individuals behind a widely known Name of Obligation hack it alleged is so “poisonous” it is inflicting followers to cease enjoying the PC model of Black Ops 6 altogether.
The lawsuit, filed within the Central District of California and seen by IGN, takes motion in opposition to Lergware and GameHook, two Name of Obligation hacks that Activision has been attempting to close down for a while.
Each hacks embody a set of selftitled “poisonous” capabilities, together with options that allow customers “kick” different gamers from Activision’s multiplayer servers (typically known as a “rage” cheat), and even crash multiplayer servers completely.
GameHook additionally lets gamers cheat through the use of “aimbots,” which trigger weapons to mechanically hit opponents, and “ESP Bots,” which establish opponent positions and permit gamers to see via partitions or different obstacles.
Activision named Ryan Rothholz, recognized on-line as Lerggy, as the unique creator of Lergware in its lawsuit. Activision alleged that Rothholz, of Antioch, Tennessee, developed and launched Lergware in 2021 or 2022 and offered it for $25 by way of his web site. Then, in 2023, Rothholz allegedly up to date Lergware to work with Name of Obligation: Fashionable Warfare 2 and Warzone. “The replace resulted in on-line participant ‘assaults’ changing into more and more frequent, inflicting some customers to submit warning messages on-line,” Activision mentioned.
In response, in June 2023 Activision despatched a cease-and-desist letter to Rothholz. In response to that, Activision alleged, Rothholz posted the letter to a web-based Discord neighborhood devoted to Lergware and “brazenly mocked Activision.”
Nonetheless, later in June, Rothholz agreed to adjust to the cease-and-desist, however then “merely modified his on-line alias and distributed his supply code to different online game hackers.”
Activision accused Rothholz of then creating a brand new Name of Obligation hack, the aforementioned GameHook, and recruiting others additionally named within the lawsuit: Collin Gyetvai (“Cid”), of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, and Jordan Newcombe Boothey (“Bossnight55”), of Whyalla Stuart, Australia to behave as “resellers” of GameHook.
GameHook was made obtainable for a number of Name of Obligation video games, Activision mentioned, together with Fashionable Warfare 2, Fashionable Warfare 3, Black Ops Chilly Battle, and final 12 months’s Black Ops 6. GameHook price a minimum of $50 per Name of Obligation recreation, with $375 for lifetime entry to a “grasp key” to make use of all GameHook variations for all supported Name of Obligation video games. Activision mentioned it believes “tons of, if not 1000’s” of individuals purchased GameHook and used it to cheat in Name of Obligation video games.
“Activision is knowledgeable and believes, and on that foundation alleges, that Defendants have acquired important income from their actions, to the detriment of Activision and its participant neighborhood,” the lawsuit claims.
Activision mentioned it had given the defendants a chance to adjust to its calls for with out litigation, however “reasonably than interact with Activision, every has ignored Activision’s outreach, necessitating this lawsuit.”
For instance, in March 2025, Activision despatched cease-and-desist letters to Rothholz and the opposite Defendants, and whereas on-line storefronts had been shut down, none confirmed they’d stop from creating or promoting Name of Obligation hacks, and none gave copies of the GameHook supply code to Activision.
Activision mentioned it believes Rothholz, Gyetvai, and Boothey are persevering with to distribute or promote the GameHook hacks or different Name of Obligation hacks via non-public channels or by way of the GameHook Discord server.
“Moreover, or alternatively, Activision has purpose to imagine that Rothholz, Gyetvai, and Boothey intend to ‘re-brand’ GameHook and provide the GameHook COD Hacks or comparable COD Hacks underneath a distinct title, utilizing completely different on-line aliases,” the lawsuit alleged.
“Activision has tried to succeed in out to Rothholz, Gyetvai, and Boothey informally, however they haven’t responded to Activision’s outreach. Accordingly, Activision had no selection however to file this lawsuit.”
Activision desires financial damages, injunctive and different equitable reduction, and punitive damages in opposition to Defendants. It mentioned the damages may quantity to thousands and thousands of {dollars}.
“Defendants’ conduct harms Activision’s fame and leads to the lack of important buyer goodwill,” Activision mentioned. “In actual fact, GameHook has been so irritating to COD gamers that it acquired important consideration on social media and, on data and perception, has triggered gamers to cease enjoying or keep away from the PC model of Name of Obligation: Black Ops 6.”
Name of Obligation has a fame for dishonest (it comes with the territory of being such a vastly well-liked shooter and having a free-to-download battle royale). Dishonest is extra prevalent on PC (Activision lately confirmed as a lot, to the purpose the place it mentioned should you imagine you’ve died unfairly to a console participant, it’s more likely that they’ve used ‘intel benefit’ than cheats). So, some console gamers head straight into Name of Obligation’s settings to show off crossplay throughout the board, simply to take the potential for PC cheaters ruining their time out of the equation. With the launch of Season 3, Activision even added new console-only crossplay choices for normal multiplayer, though PC gamers who don’t cheat mentioned they had been being unfairly punished.
Activision, as IGN has reported, has spent thousands and thousands of {dollars} within the battle in opposition to Name of Obligation cheat makers, cheat sellers, and cheat customers, with a lot of latest high-profile successes. In March, Phantom Overlay introduced it was shutting down, with followers reacting in disbelief that such a outstanding Name of Obligation cheat supplier may fall by the wayside. Additionally in March, IGN reported on 4 cheat suppliers that had been shut down forward of the hotly anticipated return of Verdansk to Warzone.
This week, amid rising complaints about dishonest throughout Warzone and Black Ops 6, Activision mentioned it had shut down 5 extra cheat makers since its final progress report (that is on high of the 20+ it’s shut down since Black Ops 6 got here out final 12 months), and had “disrupted” over 150 cheat sellers in the identical interval. Activision mentioned it had additionally issued cease-and-desist calls for to a number of corporations that create and promote third-party {hardware} used to cheat in Name of Obligation video games, in a transfer broadly believed to be concentrating on Cronus customers.
A piece of the lawsuit makes it clear why Activision takes Name of responsibility dishonest so significantly: as a result of it is aware of it will possibly have a major impression on its backside line:
Activision works very laborious to make sure that the COD Video games provide persistently compelling participant experiences in order that prospects will stay engaged within the COD Video games, proceed to play them for sustained intervals of time, and be enthusiastic about future releases. If gamers understand {that a} recreation is unfair or that the multiplayer expertise is just not working correctly, together with as a result of others are dishonest or disrupting and/or hacking multiplayer servers, gamers might develop annoyed with the COD Video games, develop into much less focused on enjoying and supporting them (together with by buying new video games and gadgets) and should even cease enjoying completely. Dishonest and hacking subsequently not solely harms (and will even destroy) COD participant communities, but in addition impacts Activision’s means to supply the quick paced, secure, high-quality on-line gameplay thousands and thousands of followers have come to count on from Activision and the COD Video games.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
