Warhammer: Vermintide 2 developer responds on Easy Anti-Cheat for Linux with Proton

By Liam Dawe - 28 September 2021 at 10:15 am UTC

One developer that has actually properly released a statement on updating Easy Anti-Cheat to support Linux and Proton for the Steam Deck is Fatshark for Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

Recently Epic Games announced that Easy Anti-Cheat support for Linux had expanded to offer full support for native games and on an opt-in basis for the Wine / Proton compatibility layers. Since it's opt-in, it does need developers to go and manually sort it out. Epic said it requires "just a few clicks" to enable but that's not quite the whole story. Developers still of course need to test it working.

Here's what Fatshark said about it:

We are aware Easy Anti-Cheat have newly introduced support for Linux via Wine/Proton.

Currently, Vermintide 2 will not work for Linux users via Wine/Proton as it has to be manually enabled on our end. Whilst we wish it could be done in a couple of clicks, realistically we require dedicated resource, planning and QA to ensure it runs as seamlessly as possible.

The conversation has been initiated internally, and we will update this article once the next steps have been established.

Please be aware that whilst we will do our best to make it viable, it is unlikely that we will support Linux in an official capacity due to a lack of resource. Therefore, once live, we will not be addressing issues in Vermintide 2 that are isolated to Linux, and customer support will remain limited to Windows, Xbox and PlayStation only.

So it's good news that they're looking into it but, as they said, they don't actually plan to support Linux. That situation might become different after the Steam Deck has released though (since it uses SteamOS 3 based on Arch Linux), as we expect more developers to want people to be able to play their games on it.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.

Tags: Proton, Anti-Cheat, Steam

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About the author - Liam Dawe

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.
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36 comments

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chelobaka Sep 28, 2021

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Funny how Valve keeps silence about its own CEG DRM which brakes several old games.

Last edited by chelobaka on 28 September 2021 at 10:31 am UTC

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kit89 Sep 28, 2021

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I hope they enable it, I enjoyed Vermintide 1 and look forward to trying Vermintide 2 once they enable Proton access.

I don't think many developers will have an issue enabling the feature so long as they can explicitly state they aren't supporting it and for the community to accept that, though I am not certain what the actual legal position is (presumably different on a per country basis)?

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Beamboom Sep 28, 2021

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I expect this to be a very common stance on it, especially from the bigger devs. We shall be happy if they enable it, but beyond that we're on our own.

And quite frankly I'm fine with that.

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Julius Sep 28, 2021

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I never understood why a coop game needs anti cheat in the first place...

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Eike Sep 28, 2021

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Quoting: JuliusI never understood why a coop game needs anti cheat in the first place...

So you can be better than your friend...!

;)

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Corben Sep 28, 2021

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Well, what is it worth, if they don't officially support it running via Proton?
Let's say they enable it, interested people try it, but get banned? Or will you just be disconnected?
From Destiny 2 we know people don't just get disconnect but get banned.
If they don't support people playing via Linux and Proton and don't lift bans of people who get banned... who will play it then?
Yes, the Steam Deck might change the situation, as it could become a viable "platform"... but with the statement above, I'm worried that the EAC situation might not improve after all.

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AussieEevee Sep 28, 2021

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Me reading the title: Really? That’s cool.
Me reading the statement: eh. Not as cool as I thought. Better than nothing, of course but eh.

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scaine Sep 28, 2021

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Quoting: CorbenWell, what is it worth, if they don't officially support it running via Proton?
Let's say they enable it, interested people try it, but get banned? Or will you just be disconnected?
From Destiny 2 we know people don't just get disconnect but get banned.
If they don't support people playing via Linux and Proton and don't lift bans of people who get banned... who will play it then?
Yes, the Steam Deck might change the situation, as it could become a viable "platform"... but with the statement above, I'm worried that the EAC situation might not improve after all.

I think what they're saying here is that they're investigating NOT banning/kicking people for playing via Proton. BUT, they won't "support" issues you have getting the game running. So if you have a stuttery experience, low performance, broken shaders, etc, then that's tough luck. But crucially, they WILL "support" (they mean "accept", I think) your Proton anti-cheat and let you join in, assuming you can get the game to work.

From my experiences of playing Vermintude 2 when I got back to my Linux PC, this will be fine. The game plays perfectly out of the box in single player. However, you are disconnected (even from a single player "server") when it tries to update your character's experience.

So basically, you can play all the missions you want, but only with a starting character - you can never progress.

This is similar to the earlier situation with Killing Floor 2, where their anti-cheat prevented you from levelling up, even though you could play the game itself.

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TheSHEEEP Sep 28, 2021

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That's good news.
This game was the ONLY reason I booted up Windows in the last year for a game.

Just be aware that Fatshark is one of the slowest developers out there when it comes to fixing stuff & communication.
So... any result here is likely to take a while.

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Corben Sep 28, 2021

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Quoting: scaineI think what they're saying here is that they're investigating NOT banning/kicking people for playing via Proton. BUT, they won't "support" issues you have getting the game running. So if you have a stuttery experience, low performance, broken shaders, etc, then that's tough luck. But crucially, they WILL "support" (they mean "accept", I think) your Proton anti-cheat and let you join in, assuming you can get the game to work.

I hope it'll be this way. So you don't get banned, or if you get banned accidentally they'll realize it's a false positive and lift it again, and will be independent to the fact you got the running on Linux.
I trust Proton pretty much nowadays to get games working well, so it wouldn't really be an issue to run the game itself. If it doesn't work, I guess Valve will make it work soon enough as there is probably enough interest in the game, that it needs EAC.

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