Nobody likes cheaters in their games. EA and Respawn are even less fond of them. Cheating in Apex Legends has been a problem before - you may recalla major incidentduring a regional tournament that made waves online through sheer absurdity.
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The North American Finals were postponed after the competitive integrity of the series was compromised.
In arecent blog post, EA notified customers of their latest steps in the war against cheating. All Linux systems, including the Steam Deck, are officially barred from accessing the game.
In our efforts to combat cheating in Apex, we’ve identified Linux OS as a path for various impactful exploits and cheats. As a result, we’ve decided to block Linux OS access to the game.
EA has not, and likely will never, do a tell-all about the specific issues they had with Linux. But if the solution involved banning the operating system outright, it wasn’t likely a small thing.
But we are not completely without an explanation. EA has discussed, in broad terms, why they had such a large issue with the platform.
Linux cheats are indeed harder to detect, and the data shows that they are growing at a rate that requires an outsized level of focus and attention from the team for a relatively small platform.
Thanks to the Steam Deck’s flexibility, it is still possible to play Apex Legends on the platform—you just have to install and set up a whole new operating system.
EA also fully intends to take these anti-cheat measures further. While their next steps may not include blocking another OS, they’re not opposed to drastic measures for keeping their game cheater-free.
We are continually expanding and refining our detection and banning capabilities globally. Keep an eye out for more news to come in the future.
While they specified that today’s move does not impact players who don’t rely on Linux, they’re not interested in drawing a firm line in the sand. Cheaters are hated by everyone beyond themselves, with EA and Respawn ready and willing to take any means necessary to exile them.
Apex Legends And The Linux Exodus
One benefit of Apex Legends being free-to-play is that anyone now locked out of the game can simply switch platforms to keep playing.The Nintendo Switch versionmay be a good option if you’d prefer to keep your mobile experience and don’t mind weaker hardware.
Apex Legends does have cross-progression, so you won’t lose much by switching - beyond the obvious hassle, of course.
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This, coupled with the relatively small number of players reliant on Linux, is likely what informed EA’s decision to end Steam Deck support. Apex Legends seesa ton of daily users, and dropping the Linux ones likely won’t be a death knell.
Only time will tell if this move has the desired impact, or if cheaters can make the switch as easily as law-abiding players. With any luck, this should have the “meaningful impact” EA is hoping for - but it’s hard to tell until you play for yourself.
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