EA Officially Planning Linux/Proton Support for Javelin Anti-Cheat

Linux support does not mean disabling anti-cheat. EAC and BattlEye can work with Proton when developers enable it. Cheaters already exist on Windows despite kernel-level anti-cheat, so blocking an entire operating system mostly punishes legitimate players. Better server-side detection and enforcement is the real solution. Not assuming every Linux user is a cheater.

Finally, the only reason I use Windows is because the kernel-level anti-cheats don't support Linux. Game studios should at least support one secure distribution to allow people to use an alternative to Windows.

Finally someone with a brain in this thread, and you are 100% right about the conclusion. The architecture doesn't work that way though. A Windows cheat won't just run on Linux. Native Linux apps are structured completely differently than Windows apps (ELF vs PE binaries). When you run a Windows game on Linux, you use Steam's Proton that acts as a translator on the fly. It basically translate Windows code to Linux in real time.

Because modern cheats rely on Windows-specific kernel drivers to hook into memory, they break under Proton because ity has no idea how and what to do with a Windows kernel request, it would probably just crash tbh.

That's not quite right. 

Sure, you can tecnhically edit the Linux kernel, but doing so strips its official cryptographic signature. Modern anti-cheats check Secure Boot and hardware attestation. If you recompile the kernel to hide a cheat, you break that chain of trust and the anti-cheat flags you. For most people, spoofing that attestation from scratch is a massive headache, not a simple bypass. Plus, the Steam Deck (which seems to be the main target) uses an immutable OS anyway.

As for Microsoft, the CrowdStrike changes are pushing enterprise antivirus out of the kernel. Game devs are still fighting to keep kernel access. Even if anti-cheat eventually moves to user-space, Windows is replacing it with strictly locked-down, hardware-backed APIs. It won't just beccome free for all.

Nah, Linux kernel is open source, anyone can go edit the kernel to bypass kernel level anticheat software. Windows kernel is controlled by Microsoft and closed source. Microsoft is a trusted source and wouldn't put in a way to bypass it. That being said Microsoft will most likely transitioning anti cheat out of Kernel level access because of the CrowdStrike incident last year. At that point they are pretty much on par I think.

Not how cheats works if it runs and bypasses on windows it'll likely run on linux and bypass checks there's no difference. If anything probably easier to cheat on windows because how many cheats are specifically designed for windows in mind.  If you believe cheating is easier on linux you're just stupid.... 

server-side cheating detection by definition is OS-agnostic

you cannot do client-side kernel anticheat on Linux, because you dont have runtime kernel access (kernel extension modules won't prevent code already in the kernel from executing), and Linux kernel is replaceable. you'd need to have proof kernel wasn't tampered with. you can't do that while keeping compliant with linux software license

EA isn't just opening the doors blindly; they are hiring senior specialists to ensure that Javelin on Linux remains as secure as it is on Windows. The goal is to move towards server-side cheaters detection and secure Proton bridges, proving that you can support Linux players without compromising the competitive integrity of the game.

so cheating will be even easier? fantastic...

This is very interesting and one could assume that the actual position being hired for is to bring Javelin to UNIX so it would run on MacOS too.