[INFO] BF2042 Patch 8.8 (May 27) – Secure Boot Requirement for Supported Systems

The entire reason I have Windows installed is to play Battlefield. It's literally the only game that has kept me from fully moving to Linux. Wish I could just play it on Linux, but now I can't even play this on Windows since I dual boot lmao. Time to nuke my windows install I guess 

Edit (7/10/2025): Thanks for the replies, but I want to clarify a few things to address the assumptions in this thread. Yes, I’m fully aware that it’s possible to enable Secure Boot while dual booting Windows and Linux. I’ve been dual booting for years and could reconfigure my setup (using shim and MOK to sign Linux bootloaders). But I choose not to because I shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to play a game I’ve sunk 700 hours into. Forcing Secure Boot for Battlefield 2042 is an arbitrary, anti-consumer move that, in my opinion, undermines player choice and system control. This change reflects a broader issue in gaming which is the erosion of user ownership and control. Live-service games like Battlefield 2042 increasingly rely on invasive measures, such as kernel-level anti-cheat systems, which compromise privacy and system autonomy. For example: Delta Force’s kernel-level anti-cheat was criticized for excessive data collection, including system process monitoring that raised privacy concerns. Valorant’s anti-cheat software runs at kernel level, requiring constant system access, which has led to privacy worries. While not gaming related, the CrowdStrike outage last year showed the risks of kernel-level software, where a faulty update caused widespread Windows crashes, highlighting the dangers of giving third-party software deep system access.

I’ve never encountered obvious cheaters in my 700 hours of Battlefield 2042, so I question the necessity of these measures. Cheaters will always find workarounds—Secure Boot won’t stop dedicated hackers, as seen in games like Call of Duty, where cheating persists despite similar restrictions. Meanwhile, players like me, who dual boot for flexibility are punished for our setup choices. This ties into larger tech issues: the Stop Killing Games movement fights against games becoming unplayable when servers shut down, right-to-repair advocates push for control over our devices, and privacy concerns grow as companies harvest data. I’m not abandoning gaming, I still love community-driven titles like Battlefield 4, where community run servers thrive without these restrictions. But I’m done with these games that treat players as tenants rather than owners. If EA wants to enforce Secure Boot, I’ll spend my time elsewhere. The gaming industry needs to prioritize players, not control, especially when the benefit of eliminating cheaters has not been truly evident in other titles.