Valve has announced that developers who use Easy Anti-Cheat for their games now have a much easier setup for Proton and the upcoming Steam Deck.
As we wrote about recently, it turned out that the announcement from Epic Games on supporting Easy Anti-Cheat for Proton was not as easy as expected. It required an SDK update for Epic Online Services, something developers noted was not exactly simple.
Thankfully, Valve has been doing more with Epic behind the scenes and the process is now much better, which should hopefully mean more developers will be able to do it. Valve has now expanded the developer documentation noting how Easy Anti-Cheat can be hooked up with Proton:
- Proton supports Easy Anti-Cheat without requiring any recompilation, but it does require you to manually enable support for your build by following these steps in order:
- Go into the EAC settings on the EAC partner site and enable Linux support from the dashboard.
- Once that's done, download the EAC Linux library (easyanticheat_x64.so) for the SDK version integrated with your game, and add it to your depot next to the Windows library (EasyAntiCheat_x64.dll).
- Lastly, on the Steamworks site, publish a new build of your game containing the new depot contents. (You don't have to make any changes to the game executable, just include the new files in the depot contents.)
Valve states that starting Monday - January 24, they will begin sending out Deck Verified data to developers that use anti-cheat to notify them of the results. Once they get it, developers will have a week to accept it (broken or otherwise) or do the necessary work to get it sorted.
So, if all goes well, we might in the next few weeks see more anti-cheat enabled titles working on Linux with Proton. This would be great for the Steam Deck, since it ships with SteamOS 3 Linux.
Just some of the titles that could benefit include:
- Apex Legends
- Back 4 Blood
- Dead By Daylight
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- New World
- Paladins
- Rust
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
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The comments on this article are closed.
rustybroomhandle Jan 23, 2022
There are two arguments against switching on anti-cheat for Linux that I will begrudgingly accept on their own but not together. And by "accept" I mean I accept that the person making the excuse believes what they are saying, not that I necessarily agree.
They are as follows:
1. The 1% Linux market is too small to support
2. If we enable our game for Linux we might get an influx of cheaters
These two excuses can not exist together.
Last edited by rustybroomhandle on 23 January 2022 at 10:42 am UTC
They are as follows:
1. The 1% Linux market is too small to support
2. If we enable our game for Linux we might get an influx of cheaters
These two excuses can not exist together.
Last edited by rustybroomhandle on 23 January 2022 at 10:42 am UTC
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Quoting: MalFalse. Even today you can (try to) run any windows game on wine or proton, and if works fine, if it doesn't work the developers don't owe you support.If this was the case then we wouldn't be having this discussion. To quote Valve (emphasis by me):
Quote[…] it does require you [the developer] to manually enable support for your build […]Proton without EAC => Unsupported action by users
Proton with EAC => Supported action by the developers
Quoting: kon14Except they don't need to officially support Linux through Proton either. They can just enable it for anyone wishing to play the game while clearly stating they do not offer any support or guarantees about the compatibility continuing to work in the future.Except, by enabling it they're saying it's supported. Steam Deck users will get upset. Yes, some will enable & then forget it. But I believe developers of, e.g., the top 10 games will be more conservative.
Quoting: kon14Sure, sounds a bit hypocritical, because it is, but if this was opt-out instead of opt-in nobody would ever call them out for their game breaking at some point.The Steam Deck users would. I believe people here somehow mistake the target audience as Linux users who are aware of the pain due to Wine. But Steam consists mostly of Windows users and that's the target audience. Another reason why I believe developers will wait and see: It's uncertain if Steam OS support is actually necessary.
Quoting: SpykerI think the situation here with Valve is different than the situation with GOG.That's my point: It'll cost them. I see no way around it after enabling support. I doubt that Valve can do anything to help with the anti-cheat related debugging.
Because the support charge comes essentially to Valve instead of the developer.
If a developer enables EAC on Proton, the validation/testing is essentially made by Valve.
So yes they will have to support Proton, but it won't cost them as much as if they had to support native Linux.
The cost for the GOG release should be negligible, too. Only the upload of the existing build is required. And it's still not happening.
Quoting: scaineI wonder whether there's an implied threat here. Do as we ask and get Steamdeck Verified.... or the algorithm might have something to say about surfacing your game on the Store.Obviously, it's a requirement to be Steam Deck Verified & Verified title will be more prominent on the Steam Deck. But it won't change anything for Steam in general, Valve would get sued for such a change.
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Quoting: poiuzSo I have my doubts that many games will be made compatible for a system of which many developers are unsure. They'll rather wait to see how many people will install Windows on the Steam Deck before committing to anything.Which would be a strange position since that would make them completely miss the free advertising that the Steam Deck launch will be for all who are verified. If I where a publisher, that alone would make it worth doing these 3 steps.
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Quoting: furaxhornyxQuoting: kon14Quoting: poiuzThere is a simple reason, not to ship it: If they ship it, they have to support it! That will always cost resources (i.e. money).
Except they don't need to officially support Linux through Proton either. They can just enable it for anyone wishing to play the game while clearly stating they do not offer any support or guarantees about the compatibility continuing to work in the future.
Sure, sounds a bit hypocritical, because it is, but if this was opt-out instead of opt-in nobody would ever call them out for their game breaking at some point.
Lets be real, EAC and BattleEye won't just drop support for Proton now that it's officially included, not unless there's a huge reason to do so, nor would it just stop working for anyone using the official Proton builds from Steam.
The only real world issue with any of this is how userspace detection of cheats on the client side is never going to catch up with kernelspace detection, therefore devs might be reluctant to potentially downgrade the experience for the majority of their userbase over us.
With that being said, I'm not even sure if EAC or BattleEye is actually kernelspace on Windows at this point.
Quoting: MalQuoting: poiuzThere is a simple reason, not to ship it: If they ship it, they have to support it! That will always cost resources (i.e. money).
False. Even today you can (try to) run any windows game on wine or proton, and if works fine, if it doesn't work the developers don't owe you support. You can open tickets ofc. But they can copy paste "not supported" and close them faster than you open them.
As a customer I would expect that "proton supported" games, with the badge clearly visible on the steam page, will offer support. But that's on voluntary basis.
Unfortunately, it may be a bit more complicated than that.
Sure, they may choose to enable compatibility and not support Linux users.
However, they still need to support their current users against cheaters, be they using Windows, Linux, or whatever. Which means testing, to be sure that some nasty people don't find a way to cheat through this compatibility, and ruin the game for your player base, which would be terrible.
Errr... That's EAC job, not mine. If I have to worry about with cheaters myself, I don't see why I should pay EAC license and bind my code to theirs.
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Quoting: poiuzQuoting: MalFalse. Even today you can (try to) run any windows game on wine or proton, and if works fine, if it doesn't work the developers don't owe you support.If this was the case then we wouldn't be having this discussion. To quote Valve (emphasis by me):
Quote[…] it does require you [the developer] to manually enable support for your build […]Proton without EAC => Unsupported action by users
Proton with EAC => Supported action by the developers
We're mixing different support meanings here.
One is technical support for proton. And, according to them, it's about getting the latest libray (which everyone will do at some point regardless) and tick the checkbox.
Another one is client support for proton. Which require I guess some kind of eula, or at least some kind of commercial campaign or documentation that sugggests to your (potential) buyers -and thus commits you- that you will support their proton setup.
One is not the other.
You can check the box and not "-contractually?-" commit yourself to support proton.
The only way I would, as a customer, require you to give support on proton is when you explicitly advertize proton compatibility. Like with the proton badge.
But if you don't want, you can check box, don't apply for the badge (and thus that marketing advantage against that "negligible purchaser audience" that is the 0.x% of deck owners) and just rely on protondb or the likes to generate interest on your product (from said negligible % audience).
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Quoting: poiuzExcept, by enabling it they're saying it's supported. Steam Deck users will get upset. Yes, some will enable & then forget it. But I believe developers of, e.g., the top 10 games will be more conservative.
What are you on about? Enabling EAC's Proton support has absolutely nothing to do with announcing Linux support through Proton on Steam.
They could just enable it on the EAC side without updating their supported platforms on Steam and it wouldn't show up on Linux, including the SteamDeck, unless users explicitly enable SteamPlay for non-whitelisted games.
People would still be capable of playing the game if they knowingly decide to, but NWI would be clear about not providing any official support for it.
The only legitimate reason not to enable it at this point is being unsure about whether it'd weaken your game's protection against cheaters.
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Quoting: MalAnd that's indeed few clicks away. Unless a studio lost the sources or the libraries, there is little excuse now to not add support.
Well done, both Valve and Epic!
Even on a (terrible) situation like that, the developer with the Steam Dev credential could recover the base files get the extra Linux lib.so from Epic, place alongside the windows .dll file and resubmit to Valve this "new" version of the game.
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Luke_Nukem Jan 24, 2022
QuoteJust some of the titles that could benefit include:
Apex Legends
Back 4 Blood
Dead By Daylight
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
New World
Paladins
Rust
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
How does a compiler benefit from anti-cheat though?
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Luke_NukemQuoteJust some of the titles that could benefit include:
Apex Legends
Back 4 Blood
Dead By Daylight
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
New World
Paladins
Rust
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
How does a compiler benefit from anti-cheat though?
Enabling anti-cheat in Rust turns it into C?
Programming in Rust enables few cheat codes, like thread and memory safety. With those enabled, it's possible to speedrun program development (assuming that target is to get stable program) and that's not fair.
3 Likes, Who?
Luke_Nukem Jan 24, 2022
Quoting: AnzaQuoting: Luke_NukemQuoteJust some of the titles that could benefit include:
Apex Legends
Back 4 Blood
Dead By Daylight
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
New World
Paladins
Rust
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
How does a compiler benefit from anti-cheat though?
Enabling anti-cheat in Rust turns it into C?
Programming in Rust enables few cheat codes, like thread and memory safety. With those enabled, it's possible to speedrun program development (assuming that target is to get stable program) and that's not fair.
I guess I cheat a whole lot
1 Likes, Who?
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