Activision has scored another major win in its ongoing fight against Call of Duty cheating, with the developers behind the Zenith and Devware cheats permanently shutting down their services following legal action from the publisher.
The official Call of Duty account announced the shutdown on September 4, revealing that the cheat developers had also apologized to both Activision and the Call of Duty community. The company summed up its position with a simple warning: “Build and sell cheats, get shut down.”
In brief
- The developers behind Zenith and Devware have permanently shut down their Call of Duty cheat services.
- The shutdown follows a lawsuit filed by Activision in February 2026.
- The developers apologized to Call of Duty players and said they would no longer create or distribute cheats.
- Activision says it is continuing to target cheat developers, sellers, and resellers through legal action.
Zenith and Devware Cheat Developers Shut Down After Activision Lawsuit
Activision filed its lawsuit on February 6 against Julian Angel Valenzuela, also known as “Wolfy,” and A.R., known online as “Noziex.” Court records show the case was filed in the Central District of California and includes claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
According to reporting on the lawsuit, the pair began working together on Devware before later developing Zenith. Activision alleged that the cheats included features ranging from unlocking paid cosmetic content to disconnecting other players and even crashing multiplayer servers.
The company also alleged that nearly 28,400 licenses for the cheating software had been sold. Following Activision’s legal action, the developer acknowledged helping create and sell cheats that negatively affected legitimate players and confirmed all cheat services had been permanently closed.
The apology also included a warning for others working on similar software: “If you’re making cheats, stop now. Activision will catch you too.”
Activision Is Escalating Its Call of Duty Anti-Cheat Campaign
The Zenith and Devware shutdown is part of Activision’s increasingly aggressive approach to Call of Duty cheating.
Activision recently revealed that it has disrupted more than 375 cheat reseller operations, issued more than 80 cease-and-desist demands, and shut down over 30 vendors. The company also made headlines after personally serving legal documents to alleged cheat seller Elocarry at his Ohio home.
RICOCHET Anti-Cheat remains the technical side of that effort, using multiple detection systems to identify cheating, while Activision is increasingly targeting the businesses creating and selling those tools through legal channels.
