Call of Duty cheats provider is reportedly shutting down operations

A major Call of Duty cheats provider is shutting down operations for unexplained reasons and this might be one of the few good news players have received in a while. Going by the name of ‘Phantom Overlay’ the cheats that were previously sold have now been taken down with a note of closure on the website marking a small win for the COD community.

As reported by CODWarfareForum on X (Twitter), the cheat provider gave an update regarding the service. “For reasons I will not explain, Phantom Overlay begins the process of closing immediately. This is not an exit scam & no external entity could ever compel me to exit scam my customers. I'll keep everything updated, safe, & online for 32 days longer,” the cheat seller wrote.

https://t.co/YPiykPtpvZpic.twitter.com/o7DljrYdEw

— COD Warfare (@CODWarfareForum) March 2, 2025

Activision going directly after cheat makers

Over the last few months, Call of Duty games, especially Warzone have been suffering from an increasing number of cheaters and hackers. Battle Royale is one of the most popular game modes and since Warzone is free-to-play, even a ban isn’t effective as hackers can simply make new accounts. Black Ops 6 multiplayer is also facing similar issues leading to a massive drop in PC player count.

Players have criticized Activision for doing nothing, however, the abrupt stop with no explanation points towards legal action from the game developer. Going after the cheat maker and distributor is much more effective compared to banning players. While the process may be slow, over time, there will be less and less cheats available.

Also Read:Call of Duty may not be the only game where Activision is using AI

Better anti-cheat is also equally important

While going after the cheat provider directly is an effective solution, having a good anti-cheat is also equally important. As the aforementioned provider mentioned, despite being shut down, the cheats will remain active for a month. Furthermore, there are cases when the provider simply started distributing under different names.

That is why, having a good detection system is equally important. Call of Duty will soon bring Season 3 update and add Verdansk map. The map is quite popular among players, however, if the cheating problems remain the same, it will fail to revive the community.