Battlefield 2042 is still receiving updates as EA gives its full attention to "Battlefield 6" development. Update 8.8.0 introduces a new Secure Boot requirement, forcing Battlefield 2042 gamers to have Secure Boot to play the game.
This change was made to help combat cheaters in Battlefield 2042. The game's patch notes reveal that Secure Boot enforcement will help counter cheats that "try to sneak in during the Windows boot process." Apparently, this is a new method cheaters are using to bypass anti-cheat systems; further up in the patch notes, the devs state: "As cheat developers keep evolving their tactics, we're stepping up our game, too."
If players attempt to load the game with a Secure Boot-supported machine but don't have the security feature turned on, Battlefield 2042 will prompt the user to turn on the feature. EA has also provided a support article telling users how to turn the feature on in the UEFI/BIOS.
Battlefield 2042 is the latest in a handful of titles to receive a Secure Boot requirement to play the game. Valorant was one of the first games to require Secure Boot, as well as TPM 2.0 support, in addition to having a traditional anti-cheat system that monitors the host machine for potential cheating.
It is not surprising that EA is increasing its security requirements for players to play its games. Apex Legends, in particular, has been at the helm of severe cheating problems for years, despite having its homebrewed Easy Anti-Cheat application in the game. Last year, Apex Legends' cheat issues became so serious that hackers hijacked two pro players' systems during an ALGS tournament, giving one player wall hacks and an aimbot to the other. Battlefield 2042 and EA Sports FC are the only EA titles currently requiring Secure Boot, but it wouldn't be surprising if Apex Legends receives the same update in the future.
Secure Boot is one of the oldest "modern" security standards around (that users can manually turn on and off). It was introduced in the early 2010s in conjunction with Windows 8. Secure Boot ensures that a system's bootup process has not been compromised by checking the signature of software that starts during the bootup process, protecting systems against rootkits, bootkits, and other types of low-level malware.
Battlefield 2042's update will affect almost no one, as virtually all computers over the past 20 years have secure boot support, with the vast majority enabling the feature by default. Windows 11, in fact, features Secure Boot in its system requirements, though Windows 11 LTSC does not.
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