this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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Why do so many games rely on client-side anti cheat and stuff like kernel level anti-cheat?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

I'm still not convinced it's possible to have a cheat proof environment. Kernel anti-cheat is not fool proof, it's just more annoying to deal with than user space anti-cheat. Yes, pairing it with server side stuff will make it even more difficult but if one of the anti-cheats can be successfully bypassed then some amount of cheating is possible and anything running on a user's machine is susceptible to being bypassed because the user controls the environment. Additionally I'm in favor in general of kernel AC being outright banned by OSes. It's honestly far too invasive and it's a race to the bottom the game devs won't win if a cheater is determined enough. You say you're a fan of it only running as needed but it's in your kernel, it's got God access, 1 micro second is too long to allow every game developer on the planet unrestricted access to my computer. Ultimately though client side AC is like DRM, when you expect the software on the user's computer to enforce your rules you will be sorely disappointed. It will raise the bar, it will make some people give up, but it won't prevent it.