The upcoming Battlefield 6 shooter will incorporate kernel-level anti-cheating methods for its online multiplayer.

It’s been confirmed the game will use Javelin (formerly known as “EA anticheat”) as a proprietary anti-cheat solution, developed by EA’s in-house security engineers. It’s been around since 2022 in titles like EA SPORTS FC, Madden NFL, Battlefield, F1, WRC, and Plants vs. Zombies.

The latest game in the franchise to use this anticheat method was Battlefield 2042, which got introduced to Javelin in April this year, much to the chagrin of Linux players.

For those of you, who are less-technically minded: kernel-level anti-cheat embeds itself into your computer at the most intimate level. Not only does your PC have to boot with the express permission of this software, every bit of information will have to pass though it in order to monitor for unwanted cheating applications.

In case of Javelin, you will also have to have Secure Boot (Microsoft’s layer 0 anti-malware solution) enabled in your BIOS settings prior to installation. While popular Linux distros should have no problem handling such a prerequisite, any tinkerer straying from the mainline will be required to remove their system entirely and encouraged to install Windows 11 instead.

Kernel-level software can also be notoriously difficult to remove, like in the case of Helldivers 2 and nProtect GameGuard. Even the packed in uninstaller was reported to be less than useful at completely removing such software, according to distraught players on gaming forums. I should add that Helldivers 2 still has cheaters present to this day.

Battlefield 6 is in development for Windows PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 on October 10th.