It Was Only A Matter Of Time ...

[@C0SSTY]

If valve wanted to quickly fix this problem, they should just give games that actively support linux/proton better split. Instead of 70/30, give those games like 75/25.

[@vief6822]

YES! Thought about the same, a better split for supported games, even better split for native games. I unfortunately I'd not be surprised if it somehow triggered a monopoly law suit.

[@oplkfdhgk]

yes and it might even make financial sense for valve to do so. windows licenses cost money that could be spent on games instead.

[@veryCreativeName0001-zv1ir]

@@oplkfdhgk might make financial sense that it would help valve gain market in hand held gaming devices but the window licenses are costs put on the consumer not valve them selves valve is just a digital store for games with a few game dev APIs

[@xgui4-studios]

but that would help big game like gta6 ot fortnite Who both are not on stesm

[@John_1-1_in_Japanese]

I think that would raise huge fairness issues among publishers; besides a lot of the problem titles are free to play anyways

[@dyna.]

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Just one more step...

[@ElvesLOL]

Underrated comment❗

[@sale666]

Yeh aint going to happen.. linux is problematic for this stuff and its easyer and more economic to build for Windows... Hell im as we speak configuring a ubuntu server with NFS shares its giving me HEADACKES and taking HOURS to make it work proprely.. On windows server 2022 i did it in 3 clicks and thats it byeee i go and have a life instead of spending HOURS to make something work on linux... Thats just an example for simple stuff now imagine the whole gaming programing about EAC who the hell wants headackes with that?

[@dyna.]

@@sale666 You mean like it wasn't going to happen on servers, embedded/integrated devices, phones? In the end linux/open will win, always.

[@sale666]

⁠​⁠@@dyna.does it really win? Have you checked windows games vs linux games? Tux vs AAA games 😂… also with servers its about time wasting… why spend 20 hours configuring a service when you can do it in 3 clicks? Over complicated time wasting for 0 reasons. What will they win exactly? There is a reason windows is the most popular gaming platform. MacOS is also not good for gaming but to certain heavy optimized titles. And its not economical to develop for them as they are problematic + low user base (for a reason)

[@MarcoZanon]

@@sale666 As always, skill issue. You know how to use one thing and blame another one just because you don't

[@sergeykish]

Steam now requires to disclose kernel mode anticheat usage. Such games should be avoided.

[@lunarx3dfx]

Agreed. No application that isn’t part of the OS should be allowed to run at the kernel level. The fact that Linux doesn’t allow this means it is designed correctly

[@MichaelNROH]

Honestly a good change

[@MrGamelover23]

​@@lunarx3dfxLinux does allow this crowd strike and other antivirus utilities for Linux actually our kernel level. But that would limit the number of supported distros for gaming.

[@qdaniele97]

​@@MrGamelover23 It allows it but is a bad way of doing it, on Windows it is done that way because it's the only option. The Crowdstrike opsies clearly demostrate why

[@FantomMisfit]

​@@MrGamelover23Who uses Anti-virus on Linux? XD

[@Th0ws]

Anticheats that can't fight open source cheaters is wild

[@MichaelNROH]

Yep

[@Dazz_Youniversual_Studios]

If open-source is such a problem then why not block Android users as well. EA is a Garbage company.😠

[@lunarx3dfx]

Android being open source is one of the biggest lies ever peddled in the tech industry. By the time it makes it to consumer devices it couldn’t be further away from open source. That being said, you aren’t wrong. EA is a garbage company

[@Sunrise-d819i2]

Microsoft is well known for being "monopoly" therefor I believe "Microsoft" is paying them to block Linux or the devs just hating Linux. Microsoft even made "OS" code in windows that will crash and destroy your OS if you use rival of software of Microsoft back in the 90's

[@168original7]

EA shut down apex mobile a while ago.

[@MrGamelover23]

Because Android has a trusted platform verification system.

[@davguev]

@@MrGamelover23 Exactly this. This is what Linux lacks. A way to verify that your hardware and kernel are legit.

[@RecoveringFpsJunkie]

1:37 Hit the nail on the head. They could fix this with a strong SERVER SIDE anticheat. Game companies need to abandon this obsession with spyware anticheat on people's pc's.

[@Vindisify]

I would love to see this, but running server side anti cheat would cost them money while running it on your computer is free. From a greedy business perspective, there is no way in hell they wouldn't choose the free option.

[@Neros_light]

But then that'd mean less Microtransactions. Oh the horror 😱 (I'm being sarcastic btw. I despise mtxs)

[@TommyViper]

I'm honestly glad I don't play those sort of games. Even if I did, it wouldn't be enough to send me back to Windows. I made a commitment to move permanently to Linux and that's what I intend on doing.

[@MichaelNROH]

Same, I intend to do the same. I prefer it so much in terms of productivity and feel

[@agrisimfarming]

My mindset regarding switching back to windows is that it isn't even an option. So if a game developer only allows windows, in my mind it's as if that game doesn't exist. This mindset has helped me out a lot.

[@gmailmann]

@@agrisimfarming Thats good for you, but there are some games i played +1000hrs because i really liked them and i dont want to stop playing them.

[@MyouKyuubi]

I already switched to Linu7x, permanently, lul... Didn't even dual-boot, i full-on raw-dogged it... Quitting windows cold-turkey. xD Only thing i did in preparation, was watch Linux videos about 4-6 months, before i made the switch. Linux has been a positive experience for me, so far, not problem free, of course... But it feels a bit similar to when i was learning windows for the first time, back in the win98 and win XP days. Even then, i wasn't really 100% familiar with windows even after 30+ years of usage, because i was never really a power-user, just a gamer... Which is why i don't feel as if i'm too far behind, Linux-wise. :)

[@agrisimfarming]

​@@MyouKyuubi I wish your linux journey well, as someone who has been using linux off and on since 2021 and fully switching in the spring of 2024 (with a few failed attempts to switch in between) I currently have zero desire to go back to windows, and I hope you find the same success.

[@prem3548]

How can Linux population be "small" but, have a "large" cheating problem? If the player count is already small, then I highly doubt that this will fix anything. In fact, this may backfire in couple months time when players encounter cheaters just as often and they realize that now they can play on less platforms for no reason.

[@thelakeman2538]

They're small as in player count, but large as in proportion of cheaters compared to non-cheaters on the platform. Vast majority of hackers still use windows.

[@MichaelNROH]

​@@thelakeman2538This is not true and not what they said. A small amount of cheaters on Linux, even if being smaller has a measurable impact than not supporting the plattform at all. Nothing more has been said

[@eksquirrel1879]

Small amount number wise but large amount percent wise? Though this is just my speculation given we haven't actually been given numbers. Just sad to see more companies pull Linux support either way.

[@Brahvim]

Exactly how I felt after the news from Rockstar arrived.

[@insu_na]

Serverside anticheat is and always will be the golden grail of anticheat. You cannot trust client machines, ever. Windows supports loading unsigned kernel drivers too, and if they think cheaters would go as far as to switch to Linux for cheating, they're in for a surprise, because installing unsigned kernel drivers is much easier and if the cheat developers aren't entirely stupid it's 100% reliable.

[@L1vv4n]

I don't play much online games at all and mostly PvE and amount of things that I expect to be manages on the server side which are actually done on client is just confusing. Several time something I assumed was s server-side bug it turned out to be completely managed on the client.

[@Digiflower5]

I learned gimp to switch to linux. Unless something catastrophic happens im not switching back.

[@BrunoFinger]

What do I think? It sucks man, we finally got Linux to the point where gaming is not a long shot dream from more than a decade ago but it's a wonderful desktop platform. And now publishers are actively removing support for it. I hope it backfires very hard.

[@Todd_Coward]

Late last year there was a big leak that showed a discord server with a number of high profile apex content creators, tournament contestants, streamers etc and they were all cheating. The problem with cheating lately is its become a facet of the comp scene in a lot of games and developers don't want to get too aggressive about banning cheaters because they'll lose content creators. Nadia, big warzone streamer, didn't get banned for years despite _blatantly_ cheating because she had a big audience. They only got around to banning her because she started doxing people and getting really toxic.

[@MichaelNROH]

I wouldn't be surprised honestly. Even the plattforms they stream on should do something about this, but they are usually not bothered

[@anthonywalker6268]

Me playing single games.

[@mr.mastermind4840]

As long as they remain to be good, nobody needs a multiplayer game

[@matthiasbendewald1803]

I also Play Co-op Games, those Work Just fine, too.

[@MrNathan07]

Sucks that EA also broke the single player too when it comes to Battlefield, I still dual boot Windows to play it. Like I understand when it comes to the multiplayer aspect of it, but breaking the game all together to not be supported isn't right either, I'd be happy with a middle ground if I could at least play the campaign.

[@anthonywalker6268]

@MrNathan07 Yeah, that sucks. I hope they at least let you do that at some point in the future. Maybe when it goes EOL.

[@demerdemer328]

@@anthonywalker6268 Single Player Games are,the Future

[@Scoobin]

This may just be your most important video so far! You've nailed the problem, the ins and outs, who's really to blame, and a solution or two!! Well done.

[@reezHP]

I enjoyed BF1, BF5 and Apex on Linux, really sucks to lose access to these games

[@vief6822]

Apex at least had the decency to become unfun before they killed Linux support, but BF1 was a perl amongst games.

[@MichaelNROH]

It's really a shame. I didn't play Battlefield in a long time, and now when I would like to play I can't ☹️

[@pocketglove]

@vief6822 so true, battlefield 1 is one of the best online shooters ever made and even tho I didn't play it so much when I had the option to, it sucks so much not being able to. We can just hope that it comes back.

[@JoshuaT902]

Their message isn't true - How can you describe linux users as a small part but also describe the cheating is large. Also, I don't understand why we should normalize rootkits. I don't understand why they can't use machine learning to see if someone who are consistently picture perfect micro-movements and deem them as a cheater.

[@xNullst]

yeah no won't happen so fast and guess what cheating would still be there humanized aimbots are quite good and having an AI anticheat will have its costs and they have to compare if its worth it

[@AyaWetts]

the same reason they'd rather dump it than work on it... cost. They can buy an established anti-cheat and have it offload the work to the players computer... much cheaper and easier than trying to set up and handle a large infrastructure needed for them to do it themselves. They care about balancing their expenses and their incoming to maximize profits. As long as the current projections show they will keep making the most profit the way they are doing it now... then they'll keep doing it.

[@veryCreativeName0001-zv1ir]

maybe because it's true except the steam deck and (maybe chromeOS soon) supermajority play games on windows / consoles

[@xgui4-studios]

to much expansive that why

[@MichaelNROH]

They didn't quite say that it's large, just that it has an outsized impact which could just be a couple of games with many legit players being affected. The problem of battle royal and big player numbers in a match. That's their argument, but yeah it's not in relation in to how many cheat on Windows

[@Rombizio]

I boycott EA since 2017. Screw them.

[@santitabnavascues8673]

@@Rombizio I boycott them since 2002

[@LoganE01]

Not enough, you need to explain to everyone you've ever spoken to, why they would never want to support a company like them ...

[@Rombizio]

@LoganE01 I do. Some friends dont do it but I dont care. Blizzard is the same. Never again.

[@LoganE01]

@Rombizio yeah both of them let their services run rampant with hackers and cheaters and always just do the bare minimum to pretend like they care.

[@PoeLemic]

Good to see another Michael Horn video.

[@geracervantes2362]

i put 2000 hours into apex since it was first available in Linux back in march of 2022 and i gotta say this change is extremely demoralizing for anyone considering using Linux as the main OS. Not only we have to bare with games that don't work (yet) due to the translation layer but also being put into the same scummy category as cheaters and cheat developers just because i hate windows/microsoft.

[@DavidAlsh]

Valve could: - Increase the revenue share for games that support Linux - Offer badges (like you suggest) - Create an open source anti-cheat engine that could be adopted by game developers

[@str8busta]

I have to dual-boot because of this and recently I've been ending up using Windows much more. Also idk why but on Linux my games have way more frame pacing issues while on Windows it's always buttery smooth.

[@gelbphoenix]

What's your hardware?

[@str8busta]

@@gelbphoenix Ryzen 5700x3d and 5700xt

[@nel_tu_]

that's why people use windows lol not cause we hate linux lol

[@gtPacheko]

​@@nel_tu_ r/pcmasterrace seems to hate it

[@pocketglove]

​@nel_tu_ most people use windows cause that's all they know. I genuinely don't know how they haven't been sued for a monopoly over having most laptops and pre-builts come with Windows.

[@luisscruzz22]

First time in your commentary box, but i recently swap my old windows to Linux, and your videos help me alot in this process. By far one of my favorites creators right now.

[@MichaelNROH]

Thanks

[@thejackimonster9689]

Honestly, we just need a proper and mostly server-side anticheat solution that works for Linux. If that exists there's zero reason for games to not support it.

[@welinsonabreu3362]

My friend, I`m from Brazil, thank you for this important video.

[@CommanderBeefDev]

ill further explain, when i was a child i wanted to play online games for adrenaline rush of being better than others, now any rando chinese kid cheats by default and ruins every single online game there is, ok then online gaming is dead learn to adapt lmao

[@stizmac88]

While I don't play any of the banned games personally, this is still concerning. Luckily valve is stepping in and developing games again so hopefully they can fill the void left by these games for those that do enjoy them.

[@dyannedia]

😊EA and bad decision such an chemistry.

[@MegaManNeo]

You basically put it for me when you said, who cares? It's a bad game yada yada yada. In the end, any game not working is one reason more for people to stay away and don't spend second thoughts. So if Valve can come up with something that fixes the Anticheat debate somehow for everyone, that'd be a big W.

[@Brahvim]

Also feels like Valve is _the only one_ who can solve this problem, whether through enforcing rules, providing excellent tools, or... whatever else.

[@Agitated_Hamster]

100% agree. I'm a week one player, and now I can't play at all. I’m done with Apex, they went too far.

[@raintech3253]

If system security was a priority to Microsoft, no software, aside from drivers, should be allowed to run on the Kernel level. There is a reason why Linux and Mac OS don't allow this. If MS would decide to go the same route, Proton could then technically work with the anti-cheat.

[@MichaelNROH]

They actually did a while back but were forced to open up the kernel since their endpoint protection would have an unfair advantage

[@raintech3253]

@@MichaelNROH Well, lets hope they reconsider... Again.

[@NejakejTomas]

I think the biggest "problem" is the fact, that on Windows they have some integrity, they can rely on it. This just doesn't exist on linux (it is not that hard to modify the kernel to inspect some location of memory without the game knowing, even if the game has an anticheat with a kernel module)

[@dj3hac]

I switched to Linux full time about 3 years ago, it sucks that a lot of PvP games don't work but I understand that people need to switch before anything can happen.

[@jeonghutamilim2259]

Me; cheats in single player walking simulator. Ea; Yeah, that whole gaming thing ain't working out.

[@Pufty]

4:39 I've said that as well and will keep saying it. Just like Destiny, it marks how far down their decisions have lead them. It's an indicator of failure

[@andychen7016]

The world would be in a much better state if cheating was non-existent.

[@MichaelNROH]

Definitely. I don't like it that nowadays, if someone is better than me, that there is always this voice in the back of my head telling me that they might be cheating. Often they don't but the fact that I already pay more attention to how someone else plays takes a lot of joy and also concentration out of the game

[@agilecreator1687]

I solved the problem in a simple way. I boycott game studios that have these practices like EA and criminalize virtually every Linux player

[@OraOraOra]

I really like your appeal! A verification program would be awesome.

[@MichaelNROH]

I hope they do something. Their current one is useless for multiplayer games

[@ErdrickHero]

And nothing of value was lost. If anything, the world got a little brighter.

[@MadNekUA]

Valve need to become more strong on hardware market with new deck2 and probably regular console form factor. At some day Gaben could just say that native/proton linux support is required to publish on steam. It's risky and some huge publishers may go away, but they always crawl back to steam.

[@MichaelNROH]

This won't fly. Publishers want their own stores and a demand like that won't bring them back, despite maybe a loss in player numbers. They might even try to go against Valve with monopoly charges and abusing ther market power

[@T.P.87]

Beim Thema serverside Anti-Cheat geht es nicht nur darum Daten dem Client vorzuenthalten bis die gebraucht werden (wie im Video erwähnt), sondern auch um Pattern Recognition bei der Client Eingabe. Da ist noch viel ungenutztes Potenzial.

[@MrNathan07]

At this rate I'd rather stomach the yearly cost of paying for PS Plus or Game Pass and have a console setup alongside the PC for the games that won't work on Windows, I don't mind dual booting but it's ridiculous to do it for just 1 game or a handful that could be played on a console instead and completely delete Windows from my desktop.

[@Brahvim]

Nice solution. Consoles always have had, and can keep all the DRM they want.

[@tapafon_red]

EA/Respawn could just shut down PC version of the game with same "arguments", forcing people to buy locked-down consoles. And release newer games only on consoles.

[@thomrl]

Valve is doing a lot of work on their anti cheat software VAC, to solve this problem. Eventually we will see the next version of VAC and with that there should be no more reason to not support Linux because of cheating.

[@ZoDoneRightNow]

I’ve only ever played on Linux and now I can’t use DLC content I paid for unless I pay for overpriced spyware and replace my OS with it.

[@jeromeroark4637]

No matter what happens I will always use Linux f Windows

[@mkedzier123]

It is simple - anti-cheat on Linux is ineffective - which is why majority of companies don't support anti-cheat on Linux, and few that did are moving away from it. Best example is Epic, their EAC is, in theory, supported on Linux, yet they don't enable Linux support in their own game Fortnite.

[@skelebro9999]

That title scared me that Michael switched to Arch 😨

[@hornsteinhof7592]

I'm heartbroken because Apex has been my main game and it hasn't been long since I've made the switch to cachyOS. It doesn't hurt as much right now because we've been playing turn based strategy like mad men for a change but chances are that we will come back to apex in a few months. Or something comes along

[@MichaelNROH]

This one hurt me a bit too. Even though I currently rarely play due to time restrictions, if I hopped on, Apex was one of the most common games I played

[@xmtprojector1553]

it's always boils down to numbers, unfortunately supporting Linux is extremely difficult due to fragmentation plus it's hard to make a business sense out on spending huge amount of resources for just small user base of gamers on Linux.

[@MichaelNROH]

Fragmentation is only a problem if you target a distribution specifically. Proton or the Steam Runtime serve as a more static API that does not change as drastically and makes it more reliable in the long run on any distro (or most at least)

[@L1vv4n]

I do not really agree. I'm working as a QA on a business software which has a linux version and when we have 4-5 developers for windows and macos, we only have one and a half developers for linux version and we have actual paying business clients who need it. Basically same version of the application works on most major distributions without any significant adjustments. So no, supporting linux is not that expensive, most just refuse to invest in it at all.

[@Jackpkmn]

I only played one game that didn't work on Linux, and it was a frustrating one. Escape From Tarkov. And the reason it's so immensely frustrating is because the anti cheat developer Battle Eye provides Linux compatible binaries for it's anti cheat but the developer has to authorize their use and Battlestate Games just won't do it. I decided I could live without Escape From Tarkov, but since it's a buy once game they probably don't care now.

[@santitabnavascues8673]

"For a computer, all reality is virtual"

[@agrisimfarming]

News like this makes me so glad I am almost entirely a single player or non-competitive multiplayer gamer. Still, I wish Linux gamers who do enjoy comp multiplayer games had more choice.

[@michadybczak4862]

I don't play online competitive games. However, maybe there is a need to create kernel modules for those anti-chit programs on Linux? If I recall correctly, Nvidia kernel module was also a proprietary blob, so it should be possible to add something similar to anti-chit apps. However, I don't know if Linux kernel has mechanisms that such app even needs. Graphical drivers are so basic, that those had to be built into a Linux kernel, but games were never a priority. Maybe with time it will change, but this issue presents a challenge: such kernel level anti-chit modules doesn't exist, and it would be too expensive to create ones, because Linux market is too small, but without competitive games on Linux, many games will never even consider switching to Linux, so market growth will be impaired. No matter how people hate anit-chit apps, for some games they are necessary. It's another story if such app exists for a non-online game or not a competitive one.

[@MichaelNROH]

It takes a lot of technical engineering but it's doable. Generally speaking (and probably not a good idea) they could also "misuse" the Linux kernel in ways they shouldn't. Open Source doesn't stop them, even though there technically are "recommendations" on how to implement features

[@michadybczak4862]

@@MichaelNROH Yeah. I also don't think that Linux kernel devs would prepare kernel for such modules, unless there will be huge pressure to do that. It's still not the right time yet, and I don't see it coming in next few years either. Although Valve may try to push it at some point if they will feel that is important thing to do.

[@iFlxy]

ooh, thanks for including my post on reddit that i deleted because i thought i said something wrong lol the user was u/DzpanTV and i later made a post on r/autism because i didnt understand why did i get so much hate, and i needed some help with understanding.

[@hjf3022]

There are two battlefield 4 servers in my region that are consistently full. It's going to be sad when the new battlefield comes out, those servers empty and I can't join the players in the new theme because of EA. BF4 runs absolutely flawlessly on Linux. On windows it would freeze and stutter at the most inopportune times.

[@mechan1sm_]

well, if the game can't fix the cheaters problem without relying on the kernel-level anti-cheat, then it's just insecure game... the ones playing Apex Legends / Call of Duty / etc. just don't care about the rootkit installed on their computers

[@Aerobrake]

if we can push back against anti cheats im so excited to see where it goes

[@usafshorts]

I want a refund for all the money I put on that game, I am not planning to play on windows, they not gonna make me. I am really upset with this.

[@Agitated_Hamster]

tbh, they using "cheating" as a way to justify the huge decline in the game in the last year, which is completely false. The problem with the game is that they have been pushing a meta that doesn't align with how the game was meant to be played. They are punishing defensive legends while constantly increase "cheap damage" while buffing aggro legends. I've heard the pros complain about this over and over again, but Respawn doesn't seem to care. So instead of reverting the game to the way it was meant to be played now the game is getting toxic to play. And since they number drastically went down over the last year, they just assume it's all the cheaters that are causing it. Yes there is a cheater problem, but the reason it's making such an impact is due to all these cheap damage aggro tactics while sacrificing positioning. They are rewarding people playing the game wrong and pushing long term players. And now they are using "Linux" as the excuse instead of fixing the actual problem.

[@UncleSev]

A Steam OS on the Desktop could push Linux support further. With such a big company behind an OS, game publishers and devs might feel safer supporting a Linux platform.

[@robertgosz4281]

Let's put EA on a non buy-nary list and let them eat their cake.

[@qdaniele97]

It's not that anticheat can't be done at kernel level on MacOS and Linux, it's just that doing it that way is usually a very bad idea (especially when the software doing it is closed source), like the Crowdstrike dumpster-fire demostrated. They do it that way on Windows just because that's the only way it can be done there.

[@beneficialhistory]

I think the solution should be like this. There is no kernel level anticheat in the MacOS version of Volorant. If companies make a native version for Linux, the problem will be solved. I don't think anyone would install Linux for cheating.

[@MichaelNROH]

There is no Valorant on MacOS

[@beneficialhistory]

​@@MichaelNROH I am sorry. It should be Lol then.

[@katmada20xx17]

To stop online cheaters, play only on LAN like the good old days so they can kick out and berate the cheater IRL.

[@potatocrispychip]

i can see in 2030 special kernel builds existing for anticheating

[@MrGamelover23]

4:20 That's the problem. The Linux version isn't kept in check because it's not running kernel level. It is possible to make a kernel level anti-cheat for Linux that's actually kernel level, but the problem is that only certain distros would be able to play the game then.

[@MichaelNROH]

You don't need Kernel level Anti Cheat. It's just a cost measure to do less active detection and filter out hardware cheats from a low level. You can observe player behaviour on a higher level but it takes more effort since you don't know what they are running. But this is how it's supposed to be

[@notCAMD]

We need some kind of easy VFIO program for Linux

[@cybernit3]

Well there is Tanki online MMO, I kind of like it more than Apex Legends, just has sort of high ping times cause they have anti-DDoS protection, and only use anticheat when they have special events/tourneys. It would be good if some anti-cheat solution is reached soon for Linux, if they don't it will hurt Linux gaming and drive some people away. I am thinking Oct/2025 when win10 support runs out there will be a few migrating over to Linux. Maybe Microsoft is working with EA to deliberately make Linux less attractive, so more stay on Windows.

[@arduenta]

Had to scroll this far down to see someone mention the real reason

[@cybernit3]

@@arduenta It would be funny in the future to see Linux only games, to get revenge. Kind of pain to port to Windows/Mac; just keep it all Linux native, who cares.

[@FantomMisfit]

Companies could handle anticheat on server side but they're too cheap to do that

[@Nightknight187]

EA is a company known for selling gambling-style card packs to kids, which has hurt their reputation significantly. On top of that, they seem to operate as a puppet for Microsoft. That’s why games like FIFA aren’t available on Linux - Microsoft doesn’t want people to play it on devices like the Steam Deck, and it's so obvious that even someone blind to the industry could see it. EA’s motives aren’t about fair gameplay or managing cheaters; instead, they focus on finding out what players are willing to pay for. They restrict access to Linux because they’re worried the Linux community will call out their issues publicly in KZbin videos and on social media, making people think EA is addressing cheating issues. However, this is just a smoke screen - they haven’t actually resolved the root problems in Apex Legends or any other games. Banned users make up a large portion of Apex Legends' peak player base, showing that their solutions are far from effective. Let’s focus on holding EA accountable for these issues, not just on the developers or cheaters. The real problem lies with EA’s practices, like targeting kids with gambling elements, which need to change.

[@henriquestiaux2129]

IMO the only way to fix that is to have a Linux kernel that supports anti cheats, valve is the only one that could pull that off. I guess it would need to be proprietary but, if it can run in a VM, that’s a trade off I’m willing to accept.

[@magicalfrog2811]

It's just skill issues of these big companies.

[@ParthyFrez]

When EA don't want to learn Linux

[@cameronbosch1213]

Why people trust EA anymore is beyond me. Yes, even before this happened. Even on Windows 11 where closing F1 24 would BSOD computers.

[@MBD_7]

I use dual boot to play League of Legends, and in the end I think it's better because it prevents their anticheat vanguard from spying on me all the time

[@leafmountain]

You have a very good point there. Unless at least 50% of Linux users are cheaters, the ratio of cheaters actually increased by blocking Linux.

[@protoney8122]

@@leafmountain The numbers are not numbering, doode Pure hypothetical: Let's say there's 100 cheaters, 1000 people on linux and 100000 on windows. even if there only 40 cheaters on linux, deliting it entirely will result in 60/100000 ratio imstead of 100/101000, the same if there only 1. It's almost always will result in less %s of cheaters

[@matthewharris517]

And this is why I stick with Windows Literally no other options 🤷

[@xritics19]

Anti cheats don't work. Today it is not possible to play a multiplayer game without see a cheater in a session. This situation is a real problem for all plateform.

[@paleopteryx]

I wouldn't buy anything that doesn't run on Linux. Because the last windows I used (and will ever use) was Windows 7. For me the windows era has ended.

[@LucMarGui]

Well, this sucks... But since Linux is my mays platform for everything (including gaming) if a game isnt available for Linux, I wont play it. I really wanna see how that turns out for Monster Hunter Wilds as during the beta it was somewhat difficult to test it.

[@ybenax]

I honestly and wholeheartedly don't understand why people still play EA games. It's not only anti-cheat and Linux support; they're a crappy company, period. Maybe I'm getting old, but the first thing that comes to mind for me when I think about EA is the amazing classics they destroyed over time (Simcity, The Sims, Need For Speed), awful DRM practices (some of the worst serial key/keep the CD in/always online launchers), crappy behavior towards their own customers on social media, sequel hell, and overall soulless check list games over and over.

[@getout1238]

the 15 year old me finding out that linux isn't compatible with fortnite and cod warzone would say that linux is useless. Now i don't give two cents on these games because my interest has shifted on other things. I see a lot of people saying that NO apps should run at the kernel level. I agree, BUT there is something called "FREEDOM" and if i want to install an app that runs at the kernel level knowing that there could be vunerabilities that could brick or make my pc more hackable then so be it. Yes the thing is that even this alternative doesn't exist. I have a questiion then, why so many people use the nvidia closed source drivers over nouveau ? Because offers a better experience and feature-set? Yes so why shouldn't be also this with anticheat problem? USE OR NOT. YOUR CHOISE YOUR PC

[@Matt2010]

I see more cheaters on Windows then Linux personally. Especially for games like War Thunder. EA and others here are just being stupid!

[@SB-qm5wg]

and the launchers that break proton for no reason

[@RecoveringFpsJunkie]

If free to play games or other games DO NOT support Linux I don't support them.

[@guilherme5094]

Even if this decision is reversed, remember that EA will still be a garbage company.

[@Aevan69]

As somebody who really enjoys Linux and would love to switch completely over and delete windows, this is actually not the only reason. My only reason is AMD hardware based frame gen, which can make a huge difference in gaming experience. So if somebody has an idea or a totorial how I can make frame gen work on amdgpu on linux´, please let me know!

[@fabricio4794]

Ea is over

[@KevKevAllen]

I just want to be able to port 32 bit games to my 64 bit system. I miss playing Portal. 😭😭😭

[@MichaelNROH]

64 bit is usually backwards compatible. Portal should play just fine

[@estiennetaylor1260]

I'm glad I'm don't fall for open source traps and lies.

[@anikethkumar904]

Yeh I enjoyed playing apex on Linux, unfortunate that it no longer works. Luckily I have an old windows box that can run it fairly well.

[@Mempler]

I mean... how hard can it be to just check if all the syscalls a linux system usually has exists and respond with correct data to ensure its either a linux system or a Windows system.... CORRECT! Quite literally a couple lines. Of AUTOMATED code. You don't even need to write that code by hand. You can quite literally generate it because the syscall interface won't ever change.

[@MichaelNROH]

I mean it's very simplified but generally yes, there are ways to detect cheats, even from user space. You might not see which devices are connected or if something behaves odd, but you can track the player behaviour

[@nikichashadow]

sad :( apex even broke on windows too (for me) on my other laptop

[@georgechertkov4140]

KCD2 is promised to not implement Denuvo, so I don't care about another corpo slop revoking its Linux compatibility. Only good games matter really

[@RoboBabeXD]

minecraft anticheats are goat, and it is a server-side plugin.

[@PropaneWP]

Ok, if they don't want to play nice - is there a way to get Apex to run on Linux anyway, or is that 100% impossible now?

[@MichaelNROH]

Basically impossible

[@coolguq]

Valve should include kernel level anti cheat on steam os.

[@techzone2009]

If it is fixing the apex cheat problem, go ahead, but believe the game have more cheater from windows than they imagine.

[@GutsyRabbit]

Honestly.. we might just have to vote with our wallets . Personally, the only shooter i liked was Destiny, for its story.. but now that that game is going downhill also, i don't see a reason to buy it at all. Or stay on Windows at all. :)

[@razorbulan]

why not blocking windows users for cheating in Games?

[@Doom-u9w]

maybe valve will come up with a solution like making their own anti cheat or something

[@xNullst]

they have VAC and its one of the worst anticheats since its usermode and any actual cheat coder that wants full security will go external and use kernel drivers to hide the cheat Just look at CS2 , CSGO , Deadlock

[@Doom-u9w]

@xNullst then it's back to windows for those who plays games that need anticheats and such

[@gelbphoenix]

They have VAC and a major update to that is in initial testing since three months.

[@MichaelNROH]

​@@xNullstI have honestly no idea when VAC is actually gonna work. From this one presentation they once made it seems like this huge processing network, but it simply fails to detect the most blatant cheaters. Like if a round ends in 3 seconds because someone of the other side fires a scout in burst mode through 8 walls, how is this not a ban?