Electronic Arts hasn't officially released Battlefield V on Linux, but that hasn't stopped intrepid gamers from using a combination of WINE and DXVK to play the game, platform restrictions be damned. It seems EA isn't too keen on that workaround: HotHardware reported Sunday that numerous DXVC users claim to have been permanently banned by Battlefield V's anti-cheat software in recent weeks.
Linux users have long relied on WINE to run Windows programs, including games, that don't natively support the open source operating system. DXVK's developers described it as a "Vulkan-based translation layer for Direct3D 9/10/11 which allows running 3D applications on Linux using Wine" on the project's GitHub repository. Linux users relied on both of those projects to play Battlefield V on their systems.
Some people also relied on a tool called Lutris that's supposed to get titles "from GOG, Steam, Battle.net, Origin, Uplay and many other sources running on any Linux powered gaming machine." In December, numerous Lutris users contributed to a thread on the utility's forums claiming they were banned from Battlefield V for cheating even though they weren't actually seeking any in-game advantages.
Those claims should be taken with a bit of skepticism. It's possible that some of these Lutris users were cheating, for example, and that's assuming they were actually banned in the first place. We've reached out to EA to seek confirmation of these claims and, they're true, receive an explanation for this decision. We'll update this post if and when the company responds to our request for comment.
