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Well, here's another game that EA will be breaking on Steam Deck / Linux, with EA anticheat rolling out to EA SPORTS WRC when it goes live in June.

Pictured - EA SPORTS WRC, credit: Codemasters / EA.

It's worth noting that it's currently rated as Steam Deck Unsupported, but Valve's official rating is only what they've actually tested, not if something will actually work at all (like the Ghost of Tsushima situation). As announced on the EA website post, this change will arrive with the 1.9.0 update in June but they've haven't given the exact date just yet.

They are at least aware of Steam Deck as they said:

Additionally, EA SPORTS™ WRC will not run on the native Steam OS for Steam Deck following the release of EA anticheat.

EA SPORTS™ WRC has officially been categorised as "Unsupported" on Steam Deck since its release in 2023.

The game actually has a Platinum rating on ProtonDB, the crowd-sourced user-reports website, because it does run quite well from various reports on both Linux PCs and Steam Deck. So presumably this will break the entire game, not just multiplayer, since EA anticheat will run from the moment you hit play.

Sadly this follows on from Battlefield V and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 that added it after release. Along with other titles including EA SPORTS FC 24, EA SPORTS FIFA 23, Battlefield 2042 and Madden NFL 24 that all have it. I actually wrote back in September 2022 how EA anticheat could end up problematic and it's a shame to see I was right.

I'm just waiting for it to inevitably get added to Apex Legends, although that recently had a small hiccup when moving from the old Easy Anti-Cheat to the newer EOS anti-cheat but it still works for now since both types of EAC are supported on Linux / Steam Deck.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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40 comments
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Mohandevir May 18
EA?! Who's that?!
starpollo May 19
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Damn, I bought this recently after playing Art of Rally and wanting to try a AAA Rally Sim.. I've been enjoying it too, so this is a real shame :(
Xpander May 19
Quoting: iorekbyrnisonI'd like to make a note here:

Dirt Rally 1 and Dirt Rally 2.0 both are better games, with better physics and content, and are both available for a few bucks on any good key retailer- and both run gloriously on both desktop linux and the deck.

the first game, unlike the second, is also free of always-online nonsense, so it's my preferred version.

as always, these games from awful publishers with bad practices are rarely best in class anyways, so nothing of value was lost

The problem with Dirt Rally games, while they are very good games, is that they don't have the new WRC1 hybrid cars with boost and aero levels of this generation. As well as missing some iconic Rally locations and don't have the official drivers and teams.

KT WRC games that were released before EA got the license are quite decent games also. WRC9, 10 and Generations namely. Though they might not be as polished as Dirt Rally games, at least with the car sounds and stuff, they do have very well made stages and have official rally ones also.
Quoting: XpanderFired up the WRC Generations game today. Thatone has gotten quite a few patches since i last played... nvidia reflex stuff is also added which is nice. So i guess i can play this then to satisfy my WRC needs.
Dumb question....... But how does WRC Generations compare to WRC 10..... besides the new hybrid cars of course..... How is the handling and stuff like that???.......
Xpander May 19
Quoting: StoneColdSpider
Quoting: XpanderFired up the WRC Generations game today. Thatone has gotten quite a few patches since i last played... nvidia reflex stuff is also added which is nice. So i guess i can play this then to satisfy my WRC needs.
Dumb question....... But how does WRC Generations compare to WRC 10..... besides the new hybrid cars of course..... How is the handling and stuff like that???.......

Its pretty much same, with tiny improvements... 9 is a bit more arcadey feeling on gravel at least... 10 is pretty decent and generations has just tiny improvements. Tarmac has been better in KT WRC games than in dirt rallies. Generations at least i feel like has the car weight is more accurate. Cars are heavy..ofc new hybrid cars are heavier, so maybe thatswhy also.
ToddL May 19
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: westurnerWhat are some solutions to anti-cheat on
Linux?

Grow Linux so that it's too big a market for anyone to decide to just ignore. That's it; that's the only solution.

If only that happened over 20 years ago because at this point, Linux will never reach a large market at the rate it's going.
Kimyrielle May 19
Quoting: ToddL
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: westurnerWhat are some solutions to anti-cheat on
Linux?

Grow Linux so that it's too big a market for anyone to decide to just ignore. That's it; that's the only solution.

If only that happened over 20 years ago because at this point, Linux will never reach a large market at the rate it's going.

Huh? Our market-share seemed to have exploded last year, after endless years of hovering just around 1%. This is probably in large part thanks to the Steam Deck, and we're already getting noticed by more developers, just not the ones whose games you probably don't want to buy anyway (EA, Ubi...)
whizse May 19
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Given that the game launched without the EA App/account stuff I was hoping whatever remnants was left of Codemasters had some clout within EA to stop this nonsense.

I was wrong. Never bet against EA doing awful stuff.
whizse May 19
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Quoting: iorekbyrnisonI'd like to make a note here:

Dirt Rally 1 and Dirt Rally 2.0 both are better games, with better physics and content, and are both available for a few bucks on any good key retailer- and both run gloriously on both desktop linux and the deck.

the first game, unlike the second, is also free of always-online nonsense, so it's my preferred version.

as always, these games from awful publishers with bad practices are rarely best in class anyways, so nothing of value was lost
Or possibly going back even further.

Richard Burns Rally (twenty years old now) have ongoing fan made online events and lots of new stages (there's even a stage editor based on Blender!) thanks to modders.
Quoting: whizseOr possibly going back even further.

Richard Burns Rally (twenty years old now) have ongoing fan made online events and lots of new stages (there's even a stage editor based on Blender!) thanks to modders.
RBR is great...... And its awesome to see the online side of it still going strong......

For more singleplayer focused gamers theres also the original Colin McRae Rally series...... Which is a bit more accessible than RBR while still being really good fun.....

Point being there are still plenty of options out there and its easy to say "No" to a company thats screwing you over and play something else......

I believe you have also played Rally Trophy in the past too......
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