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Steam games will now need to fully disclose kernel-level anti-cheat on store pages (www.gamingonlinux.com)

submitted 7 hours ago by ampersandrew@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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Now if only they could more clearly communicate when games are playable offline.

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[-] gofsckyourself@lemmy.world 119 points 5 hours ago

FYI - the owner of this site, gamingonlinux, was a mod on the !linux_gaming@lemmy.ml community until they were caught abusing their moderator powers. Then they deleted their account and complained on mastodon that it's stupid design that mod logs are public. [Screenshot]

Instead, here's a link to the official post https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/4547038620960934857

[-] Jtee@lemmy.world 29 points 4 hours ago

Wow, mad because you can be held accountable. That's sad.

Thanks for the steam link!

[-] yamanii@lemmy.world 20 points 4 hours ago

4 likes on him complaining that modlogs being public is something bad, cowards that only want to be shitty in the shadows.

[-] PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 hours ago

I'm still fairly new. Where do I go for modlog drama?

[-] Voyajer@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago

He used to relentlessly spam the /r/linux_gaming subreddit and argue with people there too until he deleted his reddit account lol

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

I was going to ask why the thumbnail on this post is a hexagon shaped bear, but your comment explains it well enough.

[-] Blisterexe@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 hours ago

the thumbnail is a hexagon bear because it's the logo for easyanticheat, the most recogniseable anticheat

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Well thats somewhat unnerving.

[-] schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business 190 points 7 hours ago

Ooh and it's a giant yellow banner you probably won't miss, and not some two-shades-ligher-than-the-background nonsense.

Good job, Valve.

[-] saltesc@lemmy.world 46 points 6 hours ago

They do this with Early Access and people still lose their shit about empty content and unfinished graphics in a game they paid $10 for.

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[-] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 69 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

However, it's only being forced for kernel-level anti-cheat. If it's only client-side or server-side, it's optional, but Valve say "we generally think that any game that makes use of anti-cheat technology would benefit from letting players know".

I will always love Valve for their ability to use corpospeak against corpos.

Your game has anti-cheat?

Wonderful!

I'm sure that always only results in an improved experience for all gamers, lets let them all know!

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[-] Woodstock@lemmy.world 27 points 6 hours ago

Can someone explain like I’m stupid on kernel level anti cheat and why I should watch out for it? Not a dig at all, a genuine question!

[-] HK65@sopuli.xyz 14 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Making it super simple, it runs with full access on your machine, always. It can fuck anything up, and see everything. It can get your browser history, banking details or private messages you enter, activate your webcam or mic without you knowing, or brick your computer even.

And you can't even check what it's really doing on your computer because it's a crime under US law.

Finally, it can get hacked and other people than the creator can do all these to your computer as well,as it already happened once.

[-] ArchRecord@lemm.ee 64 points 5 hours ago

To put it very simply, the 'kernel' has significant control over your OS as it essentially runs above everything else in terms of system privileges.

It runs at startup, so this means if you install a game with kernel-level anticheat, the moment your system turns on, the game's publisher has software running on your system that can restrict the installation of a particular driver, stop certain software from running, or, even insidiously spy on your system's activity if they wished to. (and reverse-engineering the code to figure out if they are spying on you is a felony because of DRM-related laws)

It basically means trusting every single game publisher with kernel-level anticheat in their games to have a full view into your system, and the ability to effectively control it, without any legal recourse or transparency, all to try (and usually fail) to stop cheating in games.

[-] barlescharkley@lemmy.world 33 points 4 hours ago

More importantly, if traditional anticheat has a bug, your game dies. Oh no.

If kernel level anticheat has a bug, your computer blue screens (that's specifically what the blue screen is: a bug in the kernel, not just an ordinary bug that the system can recover from). Much worse. Sure hope that bug only crashes your computer when the game is running and not just whenever, because remember a kernel-level program can be running the moment your computer boots as above poster said

[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 40 points 5 hours ago

And it's worth noting that trusting the game developer isn't really enough. Far too many of them have been hacked, so who's to say it's always your favorite game developer behind the wheel?

[-] Woodstock@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

Thank you! Really clear and appreciate you taking the time to explain!

[-] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Not all anti cheats run at startup. Some only run when you play a game. I think vanguard for valorant ran all the time at first and people were pissed. Meanwhile easy anti cheat runs only with a game. So it depends. It all sucks though.

[-] yamanii@lemmy.world 9 points 4 hours ago

Easy, a bug in battle eye forced me to reinstall windows, this kernel access has to go.

[-] TommySoda@lemmy.world 45 points 7 hours ago

I feel like they're doing this because they are going so hard with steam deck. Regardless, good on Valve for doing this.

[-] Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 69 points 7 hours ago

That’s awesome! GTA V just screwed everyone on Linux! What a rug pull.

[-] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 94 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Adding kernel malware after the fact should entitle every single owner who requests one to a full refund no matter how long has passed.

[-] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 16 points 5 hours ago

I'd really like Valve to take an official policy on post-release changes that break games, but for what it's worth they have not given me any hassle with refunds in these scenarios.

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[-] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

I don't think that's fair. I "own" GTA5 and don't really care for the last... 8 years? what they add. I had the full content of my purchase. Why should I be able to gain money for this?

[-] TipRing@lemmy.world 34 points 7 hours ago

Full agree. I do want some kind of policy for games that introduce anti-cheat both during early access and after release. Bricking a game you paid for should offer some sort of recourse.

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[-] xep@fedia.io 3 points 3 hours ago

I do everything important like banking etc on a separate device that isn't my gaming PC. This has been quite liberating since I worry less things about invasive anti-cheat, drm etc. I realize not everyone wants to do this but it's been a nice compromise.

[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

That's one way to do it, but I worry less about those things by not supporting them with my time and money.

[-] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 31 points 7 hours ago

Common valve W

[-] x00z@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

I wish Valve would just ban them. It's weird to have something that looks like pure malware in a Game store.

[-] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

Luckily Valve seems to believe in freedom of decision for their users so they won't do this. There are kernel level cheats so there are kernel level anticheats. Obviously anticheats are mostly lame in what they do so it would probably be better for them to not be kernel level. Still there are "pure malware" anticheats and Valve thinks it's up to the user to decide if they want one, their job is to inform the user. And that's the best approach here in my opinion.