Key Highlights:
- Between Arc Raiders and Call of Duty, only the former manages to run on the Steam Deck.
- Despite its use of a stricter anti-cheat solution, Call of Duty is packed with hackers and bad actors.
- This really puts into question the necessity of such requirements.
Arc Raiders has slowly shaped up to become a massive success, amassing over 480,000 players in its 24-hour peak. The game is compatible with a wide range of PC hardware, including Valve’s popular Steam Deck handheld gaming PC.
On the contrary, the newest Call of Duty has barely managed to hit a fourth of Arc Raiders’ numbers, despite having the ‘stricter’ anti-cheat that prevents it from being playable on Linux-based operating systems such as SteamOS.
Arc Raiders Works on Linux, While Call of Duty Does Not
Arc Raiders also makes use of a kernel-level anti-cheat solution, much like Call of Duty’s Ricochet service. Unlike Call of Duty, though, Arc Raiders uses Easy Anti-Cheat, a solution that works with Linux systems out of the box without any tinkering.
This makes the entirety of the modern Call of Duty library unplayable on Linux-based operating systems (such as the ones found in Steam Deck and Legion Go S), including their single player campaigns, which now require a persistent internet connection to work.
Willfully locking out a massive section of players just because they refuse to install what is essentially a rootkit into their PCs is quite unfortunate. This is in no way related to Call of Duty’s abysmal player count, which has its own reasons for sliding off the rails.
However, locking out a portion of your potential player base does certainly not paint a positive outlook, and these players would rather play something else that is officially supported. Not to mention that Linux’s install base has been growing recently, as more users start to look for alternatives to Windows 11.
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Arc Raiders does a better job in this regard. While the game is not perfect, and it is practically impossible to keep any game entirely free of hacks and cheaters, Arc Raiders fosters a friendly community that has managed to keep the game enjoyable and free of any major exploits. The devs have also been busy banning cheaters, which is a commendable effort.
In stark contrast, Call of Duty has been trailing far behind, falling victim to a multitude of cheats, all while being unable to take any effective action against them. This is despite requiring stringent security measures such as Secure Boot and TPM enabled, which has done little to stop the tide of hackers pouring in.
With all this in mind, there is simply no way to justify the requirement of kernel-level anticheat systems that block out alternative operating systems from playing the game (even if the hardware and software are capable of running it!).
Not Focusing on the Steam Deck Is Such a Missed Opportunity
The Steam Deck is by far the most popular handheld gaming PC on the market, largely thanks to is accessible price and stellar software experience. There are a ton of potential players who would absolutely love playing Call of Duty on a handheld, and while Windows-based alternatives such as the ROG Ally do exist, they are far more expensive and offer a much more disjointed experience.
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Choosing not to cater to these players is a massive step in the wrong direction and seems like a generally pointless omission.
More so when we consider the fact that Ricochet is doing a pretty poor job at keeping bad actors out of the bay, which really puts some serious questions into the necessity of a Windows-only environment that also has stringent requirements to get the game up and running.
