Battlefield 6's Javelin anti-cheat Secure Boot requirement could kill its Steam Deck support
This is probably why the Deck and Linux gaming are not supported
Battlefield 6 is following the footsteps of Battlefield 2042 and other EA titles, requiring Secure Boot support. Discovered by Battlefield Wire on X, Battlefield 6's kernel-level Javelin anti-cheat system takes into account Secure Boot functionality and will prevent players from playing the game if the feature is turned off or not supported. At least the game will be easy to run on Windows PCs.
This requirement is not that serious for Windows users; however, it is very likely that Battlefield 6's Secure Boot requirement, in addition to Javel's kernel-level snooping, will prevent the game from working on Linux emulators such as Proton, killing Linux gaming support and Steam Deck support from the very start. Proton has no Secure Boot emulation as far as we are aware. (Even if it did, there's still little chance Javelin would work in Linux.)
This is confirmed by EA's Executive VP Vince Zampella, who told PCGamersN that Battlefield 6 does not work on the Steam Deck. Zampella failed to mention any possibility of the game working on the Steam Deck in the future, or any workarounds, all but confirming Javelin anti-cheat is causing the incompatibility.
Cheating and anti-cheats have long been problematic on Linux, which does not always support the same secure anti-cheat systems as Windows does. Easy Anti-Cheat, for instance, has Windows and Linux versions of its anti-cheat system, but its Linux variant is less secure than the Windows counterpart, lacking a kernel-level requirement altogether.
Javelin is EA's latest iteration of its anti-cheat system, and allegedly its most successful anti-cheat system to date. Initially launched in 2022, Javelin takes advantage of a kernel-level anti-cheat system to scope for cheats in the Windows kernel itself. Javelin is also backed up by an army of security and software engineers, as well as a multi-faceted data team comprised of data analysts, data engineers, and data scientists.
Since its launch, EA has allegedly blocked over 33 million cheat attempts across 2.2 billion PCs with Javelin. When Javelin was first introduced into Battlefield 2042 last fall, EA allegedly saw match infection rates get cut in half; furthermore, Javelin allegedly has a 99% accurate rate when banning cheaters.
This issue will only become more problematic for Linux gamers moving forward. Valorant was one of the first games to incorporate a kernel-level anti-cheat system, which also enforced Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 requirements. But now, we're seeing more publishers embrace these highly restrictive anti-cheat techniques to improve the gaming experience for their players.
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Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.
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Bikki Mind you, we can always dual boot windows on steamdeck. The real headline would be the requirement could kill linux support.Reply -
ezst036 Microsoft was for a while pushing to get all things out of the kernel that didn't absolutely need to be there. In the wake of the Crowdstrike incident.Reply
They seem to be dragging their feet on that though. If there is one thing that doesn't serve some massive need to be in the kernel, its playing games. -
dalauder Yet another reason to avoid purchasing EA products. I'll buy them two years late for 80% off, but I don't think they actually make a huge profit like that.Reply
It really seems like they could just disable ranked play without anti-cheat access. But that's it isn't it--they want people to have no workarounds like modding, so that people feel compelled to purchase through microtransactions. -
bigdragon Let's not pretend Javelin is about getting rid of cheaters. We all know its real purpose is to protect the microtransaction store and the "pride and accomplishment" of streamers who have all the unlocks.Reply
Secure Boot is also really easy to take control of on your own computer. The government published this overly verbose report showing how to do it. I've been using it at work to get Linux running on some new computers that didn't ship with Linux support because of Secure Boot lacking the right certificates. You should be able to use it to make Secure Boot trust your own cheat grinding-bypass software too. -
hotaru251 Reply
they still are and it wasn't for sure if it was everything or specific things.ezst036 said:Microsoft was for a while pushing to get all things out of the kernel that didn't absolutely need to be there.
Honestly I hope they do yeet access to em :|
They get bypassed even being there just more effort. -
Amdlova EA games are a big no to me :D when I see it a a 80% at steam and remember need EA play...Reply
My brain just skip. -
abufrejoval This is a throwback to times when every game installed their own copy protection scheme, including private hypervisors, and after installing the second your entire computer was dead.Reply
I need to deactivate HVCI and HBS, because it interferes with software I run for a living and I deactivate TPM and bitlocker, because I need to move my storage media around.
And all of these measures are about software vendors taking control of your personal computer, which is wrong in principle.
Boycot! Don't buy this shit before it gets too popular! -
Steelninja1977 Reply
It's why I have Steam deck and Rog Ally for my handheld needs. So I can play anything.Admin said:Battlefield 6 is taking advantage of EA's Javelin anti-cheat system, which enforced Secure Boot and is classified as a kernel-level AC, potentially killing Linux and Steam Deck support before the game launches.
Battlefield 6's Javelin anti-cheat Secure Boot requirement could kill its Steam Deck support : Read more -
Joomsy This article's author doesn't seem aware that enabling Secure Boot functionality under Linux is kinda trivial. Yes, it does require some familiarity with the command line, but if you're already gaming on Linux, it's probably a safe assumption that you have this. It's probably not as easy on a Deck, but with Valve now being an official Arch partner, it's speculated that this is being worked on.Reply
Also, not to be nitpicky, but Proton isn't an emulator. It's a translation layer. Calls to Windows APIs are being translated to native Vulkan, SDL, and Linux calls. The only thing that might be considered to be "emulated" is the Windows registry, and the C: drive's filesystem scheme. -
praz01 Reply
Not nitpicking at all! When journos at this level make mistakes like that it's embarrassing.Joomsy said:This article's author doesn't seem aware that enabling Secure Boot functionality under Linux is kinda trivial. Yes, it does require some familiarity with the command line, but if you're already gaming on Linux, it's probably a safe assumption that you have this. It's probably not as easy on a Deck, but with Valve now being an official Arch partner, it's speculated that this is being worked on.
Also, not to be nitpicky, but Proton isn't an emulator. It's a translation layer. Calls to Windows APIs are being translated to native Vulkan, SDL, and Linux calls. The only thing that might be considered to be "emulated" is the Windows registry, and the C: drive's filesystem scheme.