Here we go once again, EA are about to completely break another game on Steam Deck and Desktop Linux and this time it's Battlefield 1. Originally released back in 2016, it still sees some pretty good player numbers on Steam hitting a concurrent player peak of 15,117 in the last 24 hours.
In an official news post, which was recently updated, it now states that Battlefield 1 is set to get the kernel-mode anti-cheat and anti-tamper solution EA anticheat in September. This follows on from Battlefield 2042, Battlefield V, EA SPORTS WRC and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 that all added it after release. It's also in their EA SPORTS FC series, with it originally first rolling out in FIFA 23 and has since expanded to include the others.
The big problem is, EA don't support Linux platforms at all with EA anticheat and so games using it won't work at all on Steam Deck or Desktop Linux.
EA also recently did a separate post on August 22nd talking about EA anticheat noting is has "prevented nearly five million attempts (and counting!) to cheat in EA anticheat-protected games" and they make it clear they plan to add EA anticheat into more titles across "FY25" (the 2025 financial year).
What this does is just highlight a problem with buying multiplayer games that aren't explicitly said to be supported on your platform. Proton is incredible, it does enable tens of thousands of games to run on Steam Deck and Desktop Linux, but in times like this EA can just write it off without a bother. How? Well, it's not EA selling it to you saying it's supported to run their Windows game it via Proton.
It's also worth noting that Valve updated the Battlefield 1 Steam Deck rating from Playable to Unsupported 5 days ago. Still, no refunds will come for those who are outside the normal Steam refund policies, even if your primary way to play is a Linux-based platform and that stings to just have a broken game.
At this point, it's probably only a matter of time until Apex Legends gets EA anticheat. That one will really be a big issue, since it's one of the most popular games on Steam.
It's an interesting contrast with BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard that EA publish, which is Steam Deck Verified ahead of release with the developers repeatedly mentioning it. But hey, it's not a multiplayer game.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Any popular game with PvP will always end up needing an anticheat at some point.
Last edited by Aeder on 28 August 2024 at 7:32 pm UTC
pleasereadthemanual Aug 29
Quoting: AederProton will forever be an incomplete solution that you should only rely on for single player games, abandonware, or indie games.They're not mutually exclusive. Anti-cheat can theoretically be 100% compatible with Proton.
Any popular game with PvP will always end up needing an anticheat at some point.
The chances of Riot Games doing that are essentially zero. But hey, there was zero chance these developers were going to make native Linux versions of these games anyway.
If it doesn't work in Proton because of anti-cheat, there is zero chance of the game working any other way on Linux. That doesn't seem like a knock on Proton; there's literally nothing more to be done except convince the company to support Linux.
And it's not like having a native Linux version is a guarantee it will work on Linux forever. See Rocket League, for example.
You can't play every game ever made in Proton, that's true. But you sure can play a lot of them. A much larger percentage than every console ever released, and macOS. It's second only to Windows.
This is why.
Quoting: MohandevirQuoting: eldarionAnd this is why you should not rent a game (which is what you do when purchase anything on steam).
Please explain because, from my point of view, you will get this forced update, no matter where you bought the game, else you will get blocked from playing the game. It's not a renting or Steam issue, it's a live service game issue.
I was not referring to online games in particular, but the state of gaming in general. I'm sorry to bring this to you, Steam Deck lovers, but steam is an aweful store. You, as an open source OS users should know that. Or maybe not, if all you care is Steam Deck itself (no matter if it runs Linux, windows or temple OS).
Quoting: MohandevirLet's just hope Microsoft end up locking them out of kernel access, just to make this a complete waste of time and money, for EA.why would microsoft do that? this helps microsoft. every game that doesn't run on linux is one less user leaving windows for linux.
Quoting: drdindu2why would microsoft do that? this helps microsoft. every game that doesn't run on linux is one less user leaving windows for linux.Because one bad update to something with kernel access can BSoD 8.5 million Windows machines worldwide in one go.
Last edited by CatKiller on 29 August 2024 at 6:59 pm UTC
Mohandevir Aug 29
Quoting: eldarionQuoting: MohandevirQuoting: eldarionAnd this is why you should not rent a game (which is what you do when purchase anything on steam).
Please explain because, from my point of view, you will get this forced update, no matter where you bought the game, else you will get blocked from playing the game. It's not a renting or Steam issue, it's a live service game issue.
I was not referring to online games in particular, but the state of gaming in general. I'm sorry to bring this to you, Steam Deck lovers, but steam is an aweful store. You, as an open source OS users should know that. Or maybe not, if all you care is Steam Deck itself (no matter if it runs Linux, windows or temple OS).
I beg to differ, but I respect your point of view.
I have no intentions of starting that old debate again.
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualQuoting: AederProton will forever be an incomplete solution that you should only rely on for single player games, abandonware, or indie games.They're not mutually exclusive. Anti-cheat can theoretically be 100% compatible with Proton.
Any popular game with PvP will always end up needing an anticheat at some point.
The chances of Riot Games doing that are essentially zero. But hey, there was zero chance these developers were going to make native Linux versions of these games anyway.
If it doesn't work in Proton because of anti-cheat, there is zero chance of the game working any other way on Linux. That doesn't seem like a knock on Proton; there's literally nothing more to be done except convince the company to support Linux.
And it's not like having a native Linux version is a guarantee it will work on Linux forever. See Rocket League, for example.
You can't play every game ever made in Proton, that's true. But you sure can play a lot of them. A much larger percentage than every console ever released, and macOS. It's second only to Windows.
You have right. Companies told they would not allow Linux users to play multiplayer games, because Linux users owning one's computers and operating systems. Simply: Linux distros are in most part 100% open source.
Quoting: drdindu2Quoting: MohandevirLet's just hope Microsoft end up locking them out of kernel access, just to make this a complete waste of time and money, for EA.why would microsoft do that? this helps microsoft. every game that doesn't run on linux is one less user leaving windows for linux.
I known MS. Microsoft can use position to decide, which solution could access kernel level. In this case, MS should disallow to implement similar solution on other platforms. But many companies told Linux is bad, because people owning it and one's computers. But. There exist some anit-cheat solution working on Linux. It depends on game vendor good will if Linux was supported.
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