GamesAccording to experts on kernel level anticheat, two things are abundantly clear: 1) It’s not perfect and 2) It’s not going anywhereWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAccording to experts on kernel level anticheat, two things are abundantly clear: 1) It’s not perfect and 2) It’s not going anywhereWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Riot Games)
For the uninitiated, what it means when anticheat is operating at kernel level is that it’s running at the deepest, most authoritative layer of your operating system. Developers appreciate that level of control in detecting and shutting down cheat programs, pre-empting them with a maximum level of system authority. Many consumers understandably take issue with relinquishing that level of control to a third party.
For one instructive example of the power and invasiveness of these tools, look no further than the high profileDestiny raider who lost his accountafter the game’s anticheat flagged a cheat engine program he had installed for the single player Shogun: Total War 2 and never used on Bungie’s FPS-MMO.
That feeling of intrusion can often result in a tense, sometimes hysterical tone to conversations about the software: review bombs, threats, more “lazy dev” discourse, etc. The experts that Rigney interviewed are clearly well aware of how unpopular kernel level anticheat is with some players. HisOdyssey Interactivecolleague, software engineer Paul Chamberlain, calls it “a cursed field to work in.”
Riot Games head of anticheat, Phillip Koskinas, argues that developers essentially have to be secretive about how their anticheat works in order to retain every advantage against cheat developers, who are themselves constantly searching for vulnerabilities. That secrecy, though understandable in an arms race against cheats, doesn’t help the tech’s reputation among gamers.
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(Image credit: Capcom)
Much as I personally don’t like it, there is a demand from both players and developers to keep games clean, and the professionals charged with doing so have a clear and understandable incentive to keep using kernel level access—issues aside, it seems undeniable that it is more effective at preventing cheating. I’d say vote with your wallet, but I’m certainly not going to stop playing Elden Ring or Armored Core 6 just because of their use of kernel level Easy Anti-Cheat.
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