Arrowhead is taking action: A new security system is intended to better protect the Galactic War. However, cosmetic mods now require an update.
Helldivers is getting a new anti-cheat system. Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has admitted that the previous GameGuard policy “wasn’t as effective as it could have been.”
Helldivers is switching anti-cheat systems
In a post on the game’s Steam page (currently unavailable in the United Kingdom—turn on your VPN), the team explains this decision: “The implementation of GameGuard for Helldivers 2 wasn’t as effective as it could have been […] Ultimately, we decided to take a different approach with EAC. EAC is an industry standard used in over 200 games. We believe this will allow us to secure the Galactic War effectively. It significantly better protects fair gameplay and the game’s integrity.”
As part of this change, Arrowhead also confirmed that some harmless mods—such as cosmetic customizations—will require an update. This is the only way they’ll work with Easy Anti-Cheat in the future. “We know that mods are an integral part of the DNA of PC gaming and communities in general. We fundamentally value the creativity behind cosmetic and non-game-altering mods. Players can enjoy these without spoiling the fun for others,” the post states.
“However, we need to better protect our players from modifications that provide unfair advantages or negatively impact others. This goes beyond mere software manipulation and interferes with our game. These changes mean that some mods—especially those that impair the gaming experience for others—may no longer work.”
The post also urges players to report via Zendesk if Easy Anti-Cheat blocks a mod that is actually harmless. So it looks like we’re in for a somewhat bumpy transition period. With any luck, though, many of the fun mods should run without issues again in the near future.
It’s certainly true that Easy Anti-Cheat has become standard in countless PC games. However, which anti-cheat program is used doesn’t matter to players in the UK right now anyway: due to a mysterious bug, they still can’t play Helldivers 2. Although Sony has promised to address the issue together with Valve, there is still no solution as of this writing.
