I agree. I mean, SteamOS also exists now. Maybe valve could introduce some lockdown mode where you get no kernel access as the user for these types of games or something. I don’t know.
Either way, there has to be a way to solve this problem without kernel level anti cheat.
there has to be a way to solve this problem without kernel level anti cheat.
My understanding is that the solution is and always has been to write a good network subsystem for your game/engine. That’s not easy, so most developers would rather spend time on the gameplay and outsource the cheating concerns to the ultimate sledgehammer against cheating: full freaking kernel access. It’s honestly terrifying what could happen granting random companies that access, and it’s probably a miracle we haven’t seen a million users have their data leaked, deleted, corrupted, etc.
I think that could be a great change! I don’t honestly know enough to think through all the implications, but it at least sounds like something that could work and may be more feasible moving forward. I don’t think the kernel level stuff can last forever regardless. Once that first horrific mistake happens and data is lost on millions of machines… they’re going to change approaches asap. Sadly it might take something like that to get it to happen though.
I agree. I mean, SteamOS also exists now. Maybe valve could introduce some lockdown mode where you get no kernel access as the user for these types of games or something. I don’t know.
Either way, there has to be a way to solve this problem without kernel level anti cheat.
My understanding is that the solution is and always has been to write a good network subsystem for your game/engine. That’s not easy, so most developers would rather spend time on the gameplay and outsource the cheating concerns to the ultimate sledgehammer against cheating: full freaking kernel access. It’s honestly terrifying what could happen granting random companies that access, and it’s probably a miracle we haven’t seen a million users have their data leaked, deleted, corrupted, etc.
What if the companies doing this kernel level anti cheat refocused their efforts on a secure network stack for developers?
I think that could be a great change! I don’t honestly know enough to think through all the implications, but it at least sounds like something that could work and may be more feasible moving forward. I don’t think the kernel level stuff can last forever regardless. Once that first horrific mistake happens and data is lost on millions of machines… they’re going to change approaches asap. Sadly it might take something like that to get it to happen though.