The Finals Devs Guarantee Linux Functionality Despite Moving To Kernel Level Anti Cheat

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In simple terms, The Finals has been struggling to deal with hackers using tools like wall-hacks and aimbots. The gaming community is upset about this issue, and Embark Studios plans to address it by implementing a kernel-driver anti-cheat system. However, enhancing security measures might cause some temporary problems.

At the core level, anti-cheat mechanisms prove more potent due to their increased intrusiveness and necessity for tailored drivers, which may potentially pose issues for Linux users. In the update 7.3 patch notes, Embark shares insights into the implementation plan for the upgraded kernel anti-cheat system and explains its relevance in today’s era of rapidly advancing hackers.

Many modern cheaters exploit a kernel-driver to access and manipulate system memory, thereby gaining an unjustified edge. This allows them to operate under elevated privileges within the Windows operating system, often making it difficult or impossible for Anti-Cheat systems within the game on Steam to detect their activities.

The Finals Kernel-Based Anti-Cheat

Embark is implementing anti-cheat measures at a fundamental level, but they currently don’t plan on offering support for SteamDeck, Proton/Wine, and SteamOS. To alleviate concerns within their community, their Community Manager, Dusty, has stated in the Finals Discord server that while official support may not be available, they will strive to ensure players can still enjoy the game. (Source: gamingonlinux.com)

One of the Final Developers decided to chime in during the Discord discussion, offering some clarity on the steps they’re taking to resolve the issue at hand.

As a gamer, I can share some insights about our ongoing efforts behind the scenes. Since season 5, we’ve been closely working hand-in-hand with CodeWeavers to ensure every release we put out there is top-notch. It’s not so much collaboration as it is a mutually beneficial process. You see, before we roll out any patch, CodeWeavers gives our game a thorough check-up on the SteamDeck. This way, we can catch potential issues early and provide you with an even smoother gaming experience.

The programmer included a prompt encouraging gamers to carry on assisting Embark by offering their feedback within the community.

Feel free to continue sharing any problems you encounter with us, through our support channel, or directly with the Proton developers. We’ll look into possible solutions to address the issues.

Allowing an anti-cheat system full access to your operating system increases the developers’ ability to eliminate cheaters from competitive games like The Finals, but some users may find this level of access uncomfortable.

Running anticheat at the kernel level means it operates at the deepest, most fundamental layer of your operating system, giving developers extensive control over detecting and terminating cheating software. This level of control can be controversial among consumers who worry about third parties gaining excessive authority over their systems.” (Said by Ted Litchfield, via PCGamer)

Regardless of what the creators of cheating software claim about their invisibility, there are always traces left behind, and we’ve been meticulously tracking these clues to stay one step ahead.

In recent times, the number of players participating in The Finals tournament has significantly increased. While there’s concern that the newly implemented kernel-based anti-cheat system might pose challenges for Steam Deck, SteamOS, and Linux users, developers assure us that it will function properly and any issues will be addressed. Given the persistent complaints from The Finals community about being defeated in ranked matches by cheaters, Embark seems determined to tackle this issue effectively at last.

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2025-07-04 03:43