Call of Duty cheaters arrive day 1 to the early access Black Ops 7 beta, much to the FPS community's dismay: "This can't be happening… ALREADY"

It's official – Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is almost upon us, with the competitive shooter's beta period having just commenced yesterday for players with early access… and unsurprisingly, cheaters are already running rampant in-game, too.

The Black Ops 7 beta is now open to fans who have pre-ordered the FPS, with the full open beta beginning this Sunday. Players will have access to the latest Call of Duty for a few days until the beta period wraps up next week – but so far, it hasn't all exactly been smooth sailing for the game's eager community. Even with security features like both Black Ops 7 Secure Boot and Ricochet Anti-Cheat integrated, cheaters are… well, everywhere.

Players have taken to online forums to highlight the already apparent issue with cheaters in Black Ops 7, with well-known streamers like Stodeh chiming in as well. "This can't be happening in Black Ops 7 ALREADY," exclaims the content creator in a new post, attaching a clip of the supposed cheater in action. "Bro, is this guy cheating in hour three of beta lmao," he asks via the in-game chat. Comments see developers confirming that the cheater was "banned."

Stodeh isn't the only player to seemingly encounter cheaters in the new Black Ops game, however. "First game on beta, and someone is already cheating," another fan writes in a separate thread. They include a video of the apparent unfair kills, too, with fellow fans tagging devs in replies. Elsewhere, a viral clip shows what looks to be wall hacks – cheats that make aim assist look like child's play – being abused by a player tearing through opponents left, right, and center.

"The real reason CoD is declining," responds one fan. Another jokes that the Ricochet Anti-Cheat software is "on vacation." Overall, it's clear that the community isn't thrilled to see cheating already becoming a problem literally hours into the Black Ops 7 beta period – especially with devs seemingly previously promising a more secure experience in the new Call of Duty than ever before. But hey, there's always Battlefield 6, right?

Once you've gathered all the Black Ops 7 rewards while playing the beta yourself, check out our rundown of the other most exciting new games coming this year and beyond.