Just last month, Call of Duty has announced that it plans to strengthen its efforts against cheaters by implementing Ricochet, their new anti-cheat system that is supported by a team of dedicated professionals focused on fighting unfair play.

The company is serious about fighting cheaters, who have been ruining the game experience of players on a daily basis. Now, it seems that stricter penalties will be at play, and it could mean a ban across all entries in the series, even for upcoming installments.

As spotted by Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun, a blog post on the Call of Duty website explicitly states that a franchise-wide suspension may be applied for extreme or repeated violations, including cheating.

We have made changes to our security enforcement policy for Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Extreme or repeated violations of the security policy – such as in-game cheating – may result in a permanent suspension of all accounts. Additionally, any attempt to hide, disguise, or obfuscate your identity or the identity of your hardware devices may also result in a permanent suspension.

Permanent suspensions for security infractions may now apply franchise wide, including Call of Duty: Vanguard as well as any past, present, and future titles in the Call of Duty franchise.

Seems a bit harsh, but this looks like the extreme measure the company needs to earn the trust of the players again after being plagued by hackers for years.

Do you think the punishment is too extreme or is it just right for cheaters who are ruining the experience for millions of players worldwide?