Gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) has launched a new kernel-level anti-cheat system for its PC games. This anti-cheat system is called EA AntiCheat (EAAC) and it will debut first in FIFA 23 later this fall.
EA AntiCheat has been developed by EA developers and is designed to protect EA games from cheaters. This move will ensure fair play by eliminating chapters that use kernel-level exploits to cheat in games.
Kernel-level anti-cheat system disables insecure drivers that are exploited by cheats to tamper with games. But, the Kernel-level anti-cheat system isn’t liked by all as it draws criticism from privacy and security advocates. The cheat system runs at the Kernel level, so developers must be very quick to address security issues if reported. EA claims that EAAC does not gather any information about your applications, browsing history, or any data that is not related to anti-cheat protection.
EA claims that kernel-level protection is really important for competitive games like FIFA 23 where cheats ruin the gaming experience. Gaming cheats have seen a rise in recent years and most cheats run at the kernel level making them hard to detect by games. So, the only reliable way to detect and block such cheats is to have an anti-cheat running at the kernel level.
Kernel-level anti-cheat systems are now being adopted by gaming companies. Activision introduced its own custom Ricochet anti-cheat system for Call of Duty last year. Fortnite’s Easy Anti-Cheat and Riot’s Vanguard also use kernel drivers.
