Using a TPM to bolster anti-cheat measures in gaming

When it comes to the use of Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs), the benefits for protecting devices such as computers and networks is well known. However, one novel update from the gaming world has served to highlight the end user benefits our standards can bring to everyday people.

Cheating remains a common problem in online first-person shooter games. PC environments are more accommodating to common hacks such as aimbots, which ignore a gamer’s actual inputs in favour of an aiming angle that guarantees accurate shooting. As such, game developer Activision has gone as far as to enable users to turn off ‘cross play’ modes in order to avoid cheaters. A solution was required, and one has been found using TCG technology.

What is Activision doing to stop cheating?

In August 2025, Team RICOCHET – the Call of Duty’s anti-cheat enforcement team – announced new hardware-level cheat detection capabilities that was launched ahead of the launch of the latest season of Black Ops 6. By rolling out the implementation of key security protocols now, they will be able to test them in a live application ahead of the upcoming Black Ops 7.

This development follows similar updates from other developers like Electronics Arts (EA), which announced their own anti-cheat process for Battlefield 6. The company’s ‘Javelin Anticheat’ software integrates security measures at the kernel level to stop hacking and other cheating efforts in

These changes will strengthen game security and reduce cheating, and at the core of the new capabilities? Built-in Windows PC features, including TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot.

How will the TPM be used to stop cheating in gaming?

Already a requirement of systems like Windows 11, the TPM 2.0 is the TCG’s hardware-based security module used to verify the PC’s boot process is what it presents itself to be. The module securely stores cryptographic keys from unauthorised access, verifying the integrity of the PC and its operating system to ensure any tampering hasn’t take place. The trusted foundation the TPM 2.0 creates means sophisticated cheating attempts which inject code at the system level will be mitigated.

Not only does the use of a TPM 2.0 enhance anti-cheat systems, its capabilities could also be used to prevent cheaters from spoofing their hardware to bypass any bans should they be caught cheating by the developer. If a gamer does not have the TPM 2.0 enabled on their PC, they are likely to receive an in-game notification advising them that their system does not meet the minimum security requirements to play the game. Using Secure Boot alongside the TPM ensures the PC will only load the trusted software once Windows is launched.