While previously you've been able to play League of Legends on Linux, and there's some pretty die-hard fans using Wine to play it, that's set to end soon with Vanguard being introduced.
Cheating in online games is a constant battle for game developers, so I certainly appreciate it's a difficult subject to approach. Developers want players to have the easiest time getting into the game, that's obvious, but with so many cheats out there it's a difficult balancing act. They stated that "as many as 1 in 15 games globally has had a scripter or botter in it, but in some regions, this number is as high as 1 in 5" which is pretty problematic.
For those curious on their thoughts about Linux, and people playing LoL on Linux going forward they said this:
Q: What about Linux?
We've never officially supported Linux, and it's true that the current Lutris-based implementation for League (that uses wine) will not be able to satisfy the Vanguard driver requirements. Linux does not currently afford us sufficient ability to attest boot state or kernel modules, and the difficulty in securing it is only compounded by all the frustrating differences between distributions. Even allowing emulation is an exceptionally dangerous game, as many cheats could then just run on the host, manipulating or analyzing the VM in a way that would be invisible to Vanguard within it.
Half of anti-cheat is making sure the environment hasn't been tampered with, and this is extremely hard on Linux by design. Any backdoors we leave open for it are ones developers will immediately leverage for cheats, and yesterday, there were just over 800 Linux users on League. We have evaluated this risk to not be worth the payoff.
And about having it be open source:
Q: Why not open source the driver?
Anti-cheat is an iterative, indefinite battle. Many of the preventative checks that Vanguard makes to ensure system integrity are deliberately stealthy, bleeding-edge, and in some cases, built on total pillars of sand. We benefit extensively from the confusion that the system inflicts on cheaters, and letting them simply browse the detection methods would exhaust our supply faster than we could invent new ones. An open source anti-cheat application would be totally useless (April Fools 2021).
So there you have it, you simply won't be able to play it on Linux with the introduction of Vanguard. We already knew this but at least they're trying to give more detailed explanations.
See their full blog post on the LoL website which goes into plenty more detail on their struggle against cheaters.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Last edited by ToddL on 11 April 2024 at 11:40 pm UTC
pleasereadthemanual Apr 11
It's more than some publishers will do. They could have just pretended Linux players don't exist, or pretend that Valve is the only party responsible for making sure the game works.
benstor214 Apr 11
Aah… being inundated with credit card debt and spending time behind bars for your desire to play a little bit of shooty shooty bang bang. Isn’t that The Dream™ ?
I’m baffled by the high number of people who are willingly and without question installing root kits on their machines.
Last edited by benstor214 on 12 April 2024 at 3:57 am UTC
Quoting: fagnerlnQuoting: ShabbyX> Half of anti-cheat is making sure the environment hasn't been tampered with, and this is extremely hard on Linux by design.
If anyone ever claims 'windows is secure now", show them this statement. These sort of invasive actions is impossible to do on Linux (and easy on windows), for the same reason we don't get viruses (but windows does).
I dislike windows and never installed on my PCs since 2014 (well, I have an old HDD with it because I needed to install an AMD application just to receive a steam key). But I believe that nowadays it's secure if the user uses it "moderately", just don't install any bullshit on the OS (prefer FOSS apps) and don't visit weird websites and you're good to go.
"Be careful what you do" is not security. There is no way anyone, even security researchers, could "just know" the website they visit is malware free, etc. browsers go to great length to sandbox websites for this very reason. They go to greater length than windows does to secure applications!
Anecdotally, my father in law constantly had things breaking on his windows laptop (because he clicks on everything). We switched him to Linux four years ago, not a single problem since (just an old battery that needed changing^). So an OS *can* be good, windows just isn't. You shouldn't have to take security into your own hands.
^ Ironically, the guy who changed his battery told him he should use windows, it's better :|
Last edited by ShabbyX on 12 April 2024 at 12:55 am UTC
Viesta2015 Apr 12
If an "anti-cheat" won't work because the operating system is too secure to fall for malware tricks, it sucks.
Last edited by pilk on 12 April 2024 at 2:28 am UTC
Quoting: EnkhielFrom the "big" 4 MOBAs, I am glad I enjoy Heroes of the Storm the most running excellently on Linux. I feel sorry for those peeps though that will be affected. Maybe give HotS a try :)
I stand by HotS being the best of the lot, even though it never reached the popularity of the others. How's the playerbase nowadays? I always get an urge to go back, but I know a few years ago it seemed like they were winding down development.
Apr 12
Last edited by tohur on 12 April 2024 at 9:44 am UTC
Quote[..]the difficulty in securing it is only compounded by all the frustrating differences between distributions.
The world upside down.
benstor214 Apr 12
Quoting: kokoko3kThe spin-doctor was spinning so hard on this one that he accidentally slowed the flow of time for a few seconds there.Quote[..]the difficulty in securing it is only compounded by all the frustrating differences between distributions.The world upside down.
I think Shmerl said it best:
Quoting: ShmerlLol. Let them get lost with these excuses about why their invasive anti-cheat is contradictory to the open nature of Linux. The problem is with invasive, not with Linux.
Last edited by benstor214 on 12 April 2024 at 9:02 am UTC
Quoteyesterday, there were just over 800 Linux users on League. We have evaluated this risk to not be worth the payoff.
"No one on Linux plays our game that is unplayable on Linux"
Just because the one percent of cheaters matches our numbers does not mean we are cheaters.
This kernel level anti cheat is easily defeated on the Windows platform as well, you can just load an EFI driver before the OS starts and your security attestation is defeated.
You Riot, like other companies, don't want the end user to own the computer you game on. You just want control, because it gives you a false sense of security.
This bozo was just chanting nonsense that came from Tim Sweeney, these companies just do not care.
For example I play GTA Online, which is riddled with cheaters. Out of all the cheaters in that game that I know, not a single one is on the Linux platform like myself. Not a single one, even worse... not a single one of them is able to compile anything.
So yes, we developers LOVE reading through code. That does not make us bad agents. This is modern day discrimination!
Besides, once this whole KMAC is deployed and cheaters eventually show up left and right on the Windows platform... There is not a Tim Sweeney in the world that will go back and say, damn this guy was right and we fubarred Linux gamers for no good reason at all. Nobody will reflect like that these days anymore.
ZeroPointEnergy Apr 12
QuoteHalf of anti-cheat is making sure the environment hasn't been tampered with, and this is extremely hard on Linux by design
Ah, it's the old problem of Linux not being fascist enough
Quoting: ZeroPointEnergyQuoteHalf of anti-cheat is making sure the environment hasn't been tampered with, and this is extremely hard on Linux by design
Ah, it's the old problem of Linux not being fascist enough
It's the old story of people that complain that they can't tamper with your system with the excuse to check if it has been tampered.
It's the fake policemen fraud brought into digital world.
For anyone who wants to play MOBAs there are still other options like Dota 2.
Or you could dual boot instead if you really think that League of Legends is actually worth that much.
Dana Souly Apr 12
So come again, why does Riot put in an anticheat software making sure LoL is tamperfree when they produce such bugs in the game and leaving them in the game for years? (like Sions R attack)
I love their singleplayer games, Ruined King and Song of Nunu. Both are playable on Proton, but I still need to play Bandle Tale & Mageseeker, and I very much adore Arcane Netflix series, and the book "Ruination" from Anthony Reynolds was well written. (just fyi: first read the book, it plays before Ruined King!)
Well at least LoL is still fun to watch, so I'm just getting back on Twitch watching LoL and check on the championships in Sep/Nov online at least I don't need to stay up until 4am as the finals are in Europe this year.
Kuduzkehpan Apr 12
and LoL seems will be more toxic to players.
Last edited by Kuduzkehpan on 12 April 2024 at 7:06 pm UTC
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