Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

EA AntiCheat could spell trouble for Steam Deck / Linux

By - | Views: 49,570

EA has just recently given out more information on their upcoming EA AntiCheat (EAAC), not to be confused with Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC), because EA are apparently terribly at naming.

In their new Deep Dive, they went over various details about their new EAAC and how it will affect their games. The first big note is that it will be kernel-mode, which is usually something that doesn't play nicely (or at all) with Linux and so this could be some bad news for the Steam Deck too. Not only that, it's an anti-tamper tech too.

Take FIFA 22 for example, it's playable on Linux and has a "Playable" Steam Deck rating. However, FIFA 23 will be launching in October and guess what? It will have EA's new AntiCheat. So, this might mean it won't work at all.

It won't end up in every game from EA though, as they said in the post they will work with each studio to determine their needs. It also mentions for some titles they may only use "user-mode protections" (no kernel-level stuff) or just not have any at all.

A worrying trend though, with more and more anti-cheat going kernel-side which is almost always developed just for Windows. It's problematic for another reason though, like the recent issue with Genshin Impact where the anti-cheat driver was abused to disable anti-virus.

What do you think to this news?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Anti-Cheat, Misc
26 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
58 comments
Page: «2/6»
  Go to:

denyasis Sep 13, 2022
Quoting: EhvisI'm trying to care about this. Really. But.... it's EA, so I failed.

I too, was trying to care about this. But... it's FIFA, so I failed. Lol.
fagnerln Sep 13, 2022
I sincerely don't care about EA, FIFA is a nice game but overpriced.

What I find interesting is the fact that I've never heard of cheating on FIFA, I mean, except that shitty handicap system which is almost cheating IMO.

I hate when dev apply some instrusive mechanic just to protect the microtransaction system.

AC is "reasonable" to improve the PvP experience, nothing more.
Arten Sep 13, 2022
Valve just need ramp up production ever more and they need enough buyers. In principle, we need larger marketshare.
tgurr Sep 13, 2022
The real problems will start *if* they will licence it to other non EA developers as well, hope we will never see that day and they at least keep their crap EA (games) exclusive. When the C&C remaster hit Steam without the need for the origin launcher I was well surprised, but looks like EA never learns..
HellsBells24 Sep 13, 2022
If I'm GOG, right now I'm busting my ass to massively expand the Linux capabilities of my platform, whether thats reviving Galaxy, partnering with Heroic, bundling Proton and/or Source Ports with games, whatever it takes.
This and the BioShock fiasco should make one thing clear to gamers; go old school with the content you own and do it now. I've already transitioned mostly to GOG copies, Luxtorpeda, or the few Steam games that are DRM free. Anything else doesn't need to be installed.
WorMzy Sep 13, 2022
CyborgZeta Sep 13, 2022
Could this be retroactively added to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition? If not, I don't care; I hate EA.
StoneColdSpider Sep 13, 2022
QuoteEA AntiCheat could spell trouble for Steam Deck / Linux
Only if you care about EA....... Otherwise its not a problem at all for the Steam Deck......
itscalledreality Sep 13, 2022
Quoting: HellsBells24If I'm GOG, right now I'm busting my ass to massively expand the Linux capabilities of my platform, whether thats reviving Galaxy, partnering with Heroic, bundling Proton and/or Source Ports with games, whatever it takes.
This and the BioShock fiasco should make one thing clear to gamers; go old school with the content you own and do it now. I've already transitioned mostly to GOG copies, Luxtorpeda, or the few Steam games that are DRM free. Anything else doesn't need to be installed.

But in reality GOG retired their Linux Galaxy efforts recently. Lutris provides more than enough support I find anyways.
Grogan Sep 13, 2022
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: CyborgZetaCould this be retroactively added to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition? If not, I don't care; I hate EA.

Me too, I bloody despise EA and if not for the Mass Effect games, a few Star Wars games (and some other acquisitions like my Deadspace games) there's nothing I'd need EA for. I mostly don't like EA's games.

Origin has been a CURSE for me. I can't even get it to run with modern Proton or Proton-GE (still works on his wine based Proton GE, but not since he rebased on Valve's fork. So I'm using "Proton-7.0rc6-GE-1". It happens to work best with that one... focus issues with Proton-7.1-GE and exceptions with anything newer). Origin also works well for me in Lutris with their wine runners (currently lutris-7.2-2)

I have rued the day that EA acquired Bioware.


Last edited by Grogan on 13 September 2022 at 10:18 pm UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.