Anti-cheat system is an essential part of any online multiplayer game that aims to build a big and healthy community. But sometimes it can do far more harm than good. Most anti-cheat systems rely heavily on a kernel-level driver. A component that has a very privileged access to all parts of the operating system. Being too invasive, it can cause performance issues, block important system related software give away false positive bans and crash your PC. Kernel-level anti-cheat software also remains to be the single biggest obstacle in a way of Linux gaming community. Recently, I've made a video about the current state of gaming on Linux, where I mentioned that 90% of the top 100 most played games on Steam in December 2023 work surprisingly well on Linux. But the remaining 10% have one common problem. Every single unsupported title is being shipped with a kernel-level anti-cheat engine that isn't configured to work on Linux. And at the same time, Steam Deck's library already exceeded 10,000 supported titles. And Proton database states that 19,000 games on Steam were recommended by at least one person. That is a huge number. Please remember that we are talking about games that were never designed to be playable on Linux. Aggressive anti-cheat mechanisms make it impossible for millions of Steam Deck owners and desktop Linux gamers to access some of those popular multiplayer titles. Free software enthusiasts also have a lot of privacy concerns in regard to anti-cheat software. Because the same mechanism that was designed to detect and prevent cheating may also collect and transmit data about your account and programs or processes on your PC. More than that, developers tend to update such mechanisms periodically. And often we have like zero control over data that is being collected, shared and then published. You don't allow other software that you have downloaded on your PC to operate other than on the user level. It is simply not safe to do so. But somehow we have to run these closed-source proprietary drivers on the kernel-level and hope that they won't break anything and will not deteriorate gaming experience. But why do we need to load a kernel-level driver? Why can we just use some server-side technology? Well, actually we can. There are few non-invasive server-side anti-cheat systems that does not reside in the player's computer and therefore has no need to constantly scan their devices. Like for example, Battlefield 1 uses proprietary server-side rule engine and database structures to evaluate player's performance against multiple statistical markers in order to properly identify cheating as it occurs. And if, let's say the player's accuracy is suspiciously high or the amount of headshots made from a certain weapon is way greater than average, or maybe the player teleports across the map, the server can't recognise them as a cheater solely relying on provided data. And thanks to the server-side nature of this anti-cheat technology, there is no kernel-level driver that can cause you serious problems or prevent you from launching Battlefield 1 on Linux. The problem is that the server will be able to detect a cheater if and only if they'll continue to behave recklessly keeping their head above the radar. But some cheaters know how to play cautiously by abstaining themselves from rage-killing to remain undetected. Though they still have an advantage. They can see behind walls, they can use moderate aim assist and even interfere with the game client to make their player model less visible. That's why game developers are prone to use kernel-level anti-cheat engines, because to them it seems to be the only way to detect hackers who avoid reckless behavior. Some studios are going even further, investing resources into development of their own in-house anti-cheat systems, like Activision's Ricochet, EA Anti-Cheat and Riot Vanguard, to name a few. They are doing so because they want to have full control. They want to secure better detection capabilities. They want to develop and deploy fancy mitigation techniques. They want to have both kernel-level component and server-side tools to be made specifically to suit their needs. Which maybe sounds cool from corporate security standpoint, but makes it difficult, if not impossible, to make such in-house anti-cheat work on Linux through compatibility layer. So, it is time to ask the most important question. What can we do as a Linux gaming community? What options do we have? What is the best collective strategy to make multiplayer games available on Linux? Well, to be honest, the only option we have is dollar voting. But the good news, this is the best option. Video game market is still a market, and therefore, the only viable option we have is to use market forces in our favour. If you see a game that uses kernel-level anti-cheat that doesn't support Linux, well, just don't buy it. If a gaming storefront doesn't provide a native client that works amazingly on Linux, just don't give your money to them. So the goal is to create market incentives in order to help developers and big publishers to recognise Linux gaming community. And if, let's say, Microsoft will hesitate in making their games available on Linux, well guess what? Sony would be happy to take their place by providing us with a long list of AAA titles that works ridiculously well on Linux. Not natively, at least not yet, but with a proper proton configuration. The same principle applies to the anti-cheat support. Krafton doesn't care about making PUBG playable on Linux, that's okay. I'll spend my time playing Apex Legends. Battlefield 2042 doesn't work on Linux because of the EA anti-cheat? Who cares? Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 4 are still two most entertaining entries in the series, and they actually use non-invasive anti-cheat mechanism called FairFight. You can always find decent multiplayer game on Linux, CS 2 being the most popular one, and there are a lot of different genres, other than competitive FPSs, that may suit your preference. Right now we have a historical chance to liberate PC gaming from Windows, and we can't miss it. I'm advising you, Linux gamers, to restrain yourself from giving your money to studios that have no interest in supporting your platform of choice. Please be a conscious consumer, market will regulate itself and eventually, we'll find ourselves in a better place. This was Reluctant Anarchist and I have nothing left to say.
