Battlefield 6’s open beta has already been flooded with cheaters, and EA’s own anti-cheat team is speaking out about how the system works. According to a post by the EA anti-cheat team, their kernel-level anti-cheat, Javelin, isn’t a “silver bullet” and requires a constant flow of new data to keep up with the different kinds of cheats that are being deployed.
Even with a new kernel-level system that’s already prevented hundreds of thousands of attempts to cheat, some players are still finding evidence of people using wallhacks and other cheats. The main issue here is that EA’s new anti-cheat system, Javelin, requires a lot from its players, and many are not thrilled with what’s being asked of them.
EA’s Ways of Fighting Cheaters Aren’t Actually Effective
Javelin requires Secure Boot to be enabled on your PC, which some gamers are angry about, and it completely locks out anyone playing on a Linux machine. Secure Boot is meant to be another barrier to make it harder for cheat developers to create cheat programs. By having Secure Boot enabled, the anti-cheat team can get signals that they can only trust when Secure Boot is running.
The team gave an example where Secure Boot prevents your machine from running with vulnerable drivers enabled. So, if Javelin sees those drivers running, it knows “something’s a bit off”. You are essentially signing a contract in the hopes that this level of intrusion makes for a better multiplayer experience, but seeing cheaters on day one isn’t the best look.
Despite the fact that there are cheaters already in the game, EA says the system is working. In the 40-some hours since the open beta launched, Javelin has “prevented 330,000 attempts to cheat or tamper with anti-cheat controls”. This is an incredible number in such a short amount of time, and it shows that the system is doing its job, but it is not stopping them all.
This has resulted in players calling out people who are still cheating and using wallhacks. The anti-cheat team is urging players to continue reporting anyone they suspect of playing unfairly. According to them, these reports help them “zero in and lead [them] to finding up and coming cheat communities”.
The community has already reported 44,000 instances of potential cheaters during day one, with another 60,000 being reported the next day. The anti-cheat team is using these reports along with their own “Gameplay Integrity team” to “add and improve [their] detections for Battlefield 6”. The Battlefield Positive Play team is actively removing confirmed cheaters from the beta.
EA Won’t Be Stopping Cheaters Anytime Soon
This shows that EA is taking cheating seriously, but it’s clear that it is going to be a long and hard road ahead. Cheaters will always find a way to get around the system, and it’s up to the developers to constantly update and improve their anti-cheat measures to keep up with them. It’s a never-ending cycle, and it’s something that all multiplayer games have to deal with.
It’s unfortunate that the community has to be the ones to help EA, but it seems like this is the only way to get a handle on the problem. So make sure to report cheaters as you see them. Maybe we’ll get a cheat-free Battlefield 6 this way.
Source: EA
