Helldivers will be switching up its anti-cheat, as developer Arrowhead Game Studios has admitted that its Gameguard cheat policy “wasn’t as effective as it could have been.”
In a post made to the game’s Steam page (not available in the UK – get that VPN on), the team explains the decision: “The implementation of GameGuard for Helldivers 2 wasn’t as effective as it could have been […] In the end we decided to take another path with EAC. EAC is an industry standard used in over 200 games, and we believe this will be an effective way to protect the Galactic War and will better protect fair gameplay and the integrity of the game.”
Here’s the Helldivers 2 launch trailer.Watch on YouTube
As part of this shift, Arrowhead also confirmed that several non-malicious mods, such as cosmetic changes, will need to be updated to work alongside Easy Anti-Cheat. “We know mods are part of the DNA of PC gaming and gaming communities as a whole. In general, we appreciate the creativity behind cosmetic and non-gameplay mods, which players can enjoy without negatively impacting those who play alongside them,” the post reads.
“Where we need to improve is how we protect players against modifications that create unfair advantages or negatively impact others, which goes beyond software manipulation to tamper with our game. These changes mean that some mods, particularly the types that are affecting the experience of other players, may no longer function.”
The post continues to implore those who feel a non-malicious mod has been blocked by Easy Anti-Cheat to reach out via Zendesk. So, there should be a bit of a rough transitional period, but hopefully a lot of the fun mods should be good to go again in the near future.
It’s indeed true that Easy Anti-Cheat has become the norm for a vast variety of PC games. However, regardless of the anti cheat being used, those in the UK are still unable to play Helldivers 2 due to a mysterious issue. Sony has promised to address the issue with Valve, but as of writing there’s been no resolution to the problem.