Linux Gaming Anti-Cheat: Why It's So Difficult

The Steam Hardware Survey shows a slow but steady increase in Linux users playing games, but many popular multiplayer titles (like Valorant and League of Legends) remain unplayable due to anti-cheat limitations. This article delves into how modern anti-cheat solutions work, particularly how kernel-level drivers prevent processes from accessing game memory. The author explains why this approach is ineffective on the open Linux system and suggests alternatives for mitigating cheating on Linux, such as improved networking code and code obfuscation. While Linux gamers hope to see wider game support, the technical challenges make this unlikely in the near future.