War Thunder from Gaijin Entertainment announced back in December 2024 that they would be changing the anti-cheat, which continues to be rolled out in stages. They're moving from Easy Anti-Cheat to BattlEye, both of which support Linux platforms and War Thunder did already support Linux.
As of the latest update posted January 24th, they noted "BattlEye anti-cheat has been enabled for Linux", so players on Linux / SteamOS / Steam Deck should be good to continue playing. The update is noted on our anti-cheat compatibility page.
Pictured - War Thunder
It's great to see Gaijin Entertainment have kept up their Linux support for this game for so long. Showing many others how it can be done successfully, unlike GTA Online, which also uses BattlEye but Rockstar are choosing not to enable it.
War Thunder remains wildly popular too with a 24 hour peak of 87,363 players, and that's just on Steam, the game is available direct from the developer and on consoles.
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Until they revert that. I would recommend to anyone, not to spend a dime on such online games. You never know when they will pull the rug.
Last edited by Egonaut on 25 Jan 2025 at 1:20 pm UTC
Last edited by Egonaut on 25 Jan 2025 at 1:20 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
There’s no reason to expect they will pull it. They’re one of Linux’s earliest Steam supporters, it’s worked for a long time now.
7 Likes, Who?
mr-victory a day ago
I see where you are coming from but War Thunder is one of the last games to drop Linux, they had *native* Linux & Mac support for years.
7 Likes, Who?
Since this is a Native game, is the battleEye anti cheat like also linux native? Does that make it stronger than if it was the proton version?
0 Likes
Would play it if not for PayToWin(pay to rest your crew, pay for certain behind paywall vehicles, etc.)
I have no problem to pay for game ones. But certainly not over 100$ a year for subscription game.
I have no problem to pay for game ones. But certainly not over 100$ a year for subscription game.
0 Likes
Since this is a Native game, is the battleEye anti cheat like also linux native? Does that make it stronger than if it was the proton version?@Pyrate
They have a native Linux version and it's one of the few anticheat that works when enabled by the games. Like Liam mentioned earlier, GTA VI has BattlEye anticheat but it's not enabled for Linux and Rockstar could enable it if they want to.
3 Likes, Who?
TheRiddick 13 hours ago
Smart devs are rare. It is a shame the game is so damn grindy, I do have some of the top tier stuff unlocked but haven't played for a year and rarely grind anymore as it often turns into too much work. (unless you pay money)
Last edited by TheRiddick on 26 Jan 2025 at 10:51 am UTC
Last edited by TheRiddick on 26 Jan 2025 at 10:51 am UTC
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Until they revert that. I would recommend to anyone, not to spend a dime on such online games. You never know when they will pull the rug.
Why should they? They have been supporting Linux since 2014 (and I have been playing it since then). They have switched from OpenGL to Vulkan, they put some effort into supporting the Steam Deck.
I have been playing and enjoying it for 10+ years now - bummer if I'd followed your advice back a decade ago (when it was much more likely that they "pull the rug").
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Would play it if not for PayToWin(pay to rest your crew, pay for certain behind paywall vehicles, etc.)@Dimko: I play it for ears without premium at it is ok. Unless you realy want to go trough levels quickly, there is no need to pay, I don't see it as a grind. Very nice game with friends
I have no problem to pay for game ones. But certainly not over 100$ a year for subscription game.
1 Likes, Who?
Would play it if not for PayToWin(pay to rest your crew, pay for certain behind paywall vehicles, etc.)
I have no problem to pay for game ones. But certainly not over 100$ a year for subscription game.
Far from it. On the contrary: The team with more premium player frequently loses. Why? Because plenty of noobs think that a premium vehicle is in some way superior, spawn, get obliterated immediately and are out of the game again. 2 minutes in the game and of your 16 team members only 8 are left...
Besides: What's the problem of paying 100$ for a game you play frequently for one whole year? If you play less often - just play for free and enjoy the lower tiers which are frequently a lot more fun.
0 Likes
benstor214 8 hours ago
I don’t know if this applies to War Thunder, but in general @Egonaut’s sentiment is not wrong.
Someone who makes games made for Windows run on Linux is ill-advised to completely ignore the possibility for updates that break either anti-cheat or the game entirely. Don’t take the playability of any game on Linux for granted: most of them don’t come with a warranty that guarantees any compatibility with Linux…
This is especially true for games where you can (easily) spend several hundreds of dollars per year. There is no problem in doing it, just be aware that any future update could lock you out of the your unlocked content.
Someone who makes games made for Windows run on Linux is ill-advised to completely ignore the possibility for updates that break either anti-cheat or the game entirely. Don’t take the playability of any game on Linux for granted: most of them don’t come with a warranty that guarantees any compatibility with Linux…
This is especially true for games where you can (easily) spend several hundreds of dollars per year. There is no problem in doing it, just be aware that any future update could lock you out of the your unlocked content.
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Onhestly, the whole anticheat situation will change if and only if Valve would make the Steam Deck 2 into a trusted device with unique IDs. That won't do for Linux desktops of course, but it would be a start.
Last edited by Leprotto on 26 Jan 2025 at 4:19 pm UTC
Last edited by Leprotto on 26 Jan 2025 at 4:19 pm UTC
0 Likes
I am glad they seem to have fixed the white glare issue on Vulkan (and thus Linux) that I was also getting.
On the topic of rug pulling - I feel that like most things in life, this, too, is nuanced - a spectrum of rug pulling, if you'd like 😄.
You can trust a game to not randomly drop Linux support (least to most; overly simplified):
Last edited by chr on 26 Jan 2025 at 5:15 pm UTC
On the topic of rug pulling - I feel that like most things in life, this, too, is nuanced - a spectrum of rug pulling, if you'd like 😄.
You can trust a game to not randomly drop Linux support (least to most; overly simplified):
- War Thunder
- Games without anti-cheat
- Games that are not Windows-focused (Linux-only??)
- Games that don't rely on first-party servers
- DRM-free games
- Games that provide you with old versions and/or allow sharing them
- Open-source games
Last edited by chr on 26 Jan 2025 at 5:15 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
benstor214 5 hours ago
Onhestly, the whole anticheat situation will change if and only if Valve would make the Steam Deck 2 into a trusted device with unique IDs.The companies could run their anti-cheat solutions on their servers, instead of their customers machines.
I don’t need any anti-cheat software - kernel level or not - to do my online banking!
Game companies are just full of themselves…
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The companies could run their anti-cheat solutions on their servers, instead of their customers machines.If this is so easy, provide it as a service and make millions. Easy fix & nobody will complain.
I don’t need any anti-cheat software - kernel level or not - to do my online banking!
Game companies are just full of themselves…
0 Likes
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