Activision sent a legal demand to a prominent Call of Duty leaker over "viral misinformation"

Activision has publicly addressed the situation around Call of Duty leaks after taking legal action against one of the most prominent sources of such information.

The comment appeared under a video on the TDAWG YouTube channel. Activision said it understands that "rumors are part of gaming culture," as is "healthy online speculation" – but draws a line "when leaks turn into viral misinformation." This "undermines our developers and also distorts player expectations of the games we're making," the company said.

"When that happens, we're going to step in and set the record straight."

The catalyst was a statement from leaker TheGhostofHope, well known in the Call of Duty community. He disclosed that Activision "legally demanded" he stop "leaking and disseminating confidential information" about the series and the company itself. "I am complying with their demands," he wrote.

Over the years, TheGhostofHope has posted a lot of material about Call of Duty and Activision, including details about the 2026 entry in the series. His activity extended beyond the franchise as well – back in 2025 he claimed that Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was planning to retire, something Microsoft denied at the time but that has since proven true, even if not every specific detail held up.

Activision also pushed back against a separate rumor about a standalone Zombies game, though the denial was notably vague:

"The rumor factory working overtime. This ain't it."

The statement made no mention of Zombies specifically or any concrete claims about what is or isn't in development, leaving plenty of room for interpretation.

Activision isn't the only one going after leakers. Epic Games recently took legal action against someone accused of sharing internal information about Fortnite – and that person turned out to be an Epic employee.

Even if both companies manage to silence certain leakers, that's unlikely to stop the flow of information entirely. A large portion of details about upcoming Call of Duty and Fortnite content comes from data-mining game files. Whether Activision and Epic plan to go after those accounts as well remains to be seen.