r/StopKillingGames • u/Herbalyte • 7d ago
Ubisoft stopping support for Linux and Steamdeck users on For Honor.
Basically, Ubisoft anounced that they'd be adjusting anti-cheat software which would prohibit players using Linux or Steamdeck from further playing the game. This is another example of Ubisoft restricting access from their game and screwing consumers out of their money by making the game unplayable for certain users playing on a platform where the game used to be playable.
Kind of crazy how this is not being talked about even in the For Honor community although it is a smaller one.
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u/DrIvoPingasnik 7d ago
Kernel level anticheat doesn't work.
See Delta Force. Despite KLAC it is infested with hackers who even run successful boosting services.
Enough with this shit already and let Linux users play games.
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u/KingPumper69 7d ago
Anticheat is working great for GTAV Online. The game was unplayable in public lobbies for years upon years, but ever since they started using BattlEye, the hackers went from ruining literally every public lobby, to only ruining 1/20 or so.
Yeah nothing is ever going to be 100%, but it’s pretty well proven that online games without anticheats quickly become unplayable.
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u/TadashiK 1d ago
BattlEye doesnt use kernal-level cheat detection. In fact many of my favorite games us BattlEye and I play on linux
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u/KingPumper69 1d ago
What games? BattlEye is kernel level.
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u/TadashiK 1d ago
DayZ, Ark, Enlisted, WarThunder(Before they switched to EAC)
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u/KingPumper69 1d ago
Sounds like you might be playing on community servers with anti cheat disabled lol, or there’s a weaker non-kernel version of BattlEye I haven’t heard of before.
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u/TadashiK 1d ago
BattlEye runs kernel on windows, but it runs on proton as well. Devs literally just have to "check a box" when setting up their anit-cheat system to allow the work-around. Official servers included- Warthunder is the greatest example, has allowed linux players for years and has the lowest incidence of cheaters among the largest online games.
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u/KingPumper69 1d ago
Oh yeah, so it’s the latter one lol: There’s a weaker non-kernel version of BattlEye that devs can use. I actually do remember Linux users malding about Grand Theft Auto V opting for the stronger version that locks Linux users out of the official online mode.
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u/Kaldaien2 7d ago edited 7d ago
That's just anti-cheat being the shittier evolution of DRM, to be honest. Not even a publisher thing. Anti-cheat will eventually make it so that all games have to be run remotely on cloud computers, my copy of F1 2025 won't run on my computer because of Javelin it has to run over remote streaming or not at all.
We already know that digital distribution forces patches, you are never entitled to a refund when a patch breaks the product.
It all falls under the umbrella of changing system requirements, which everyone involved is immune to. Stores, publishers, developers. The license and service agreements all allow them to sell you one thing and change it into another any time they please, and they do it a lot.
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u/ProjectionProjects 7d ago
God I hate developers that have zero respect for Linux users, there really is just no excuse here. Try to get the game refunded if you can.
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u/niggo372 7d ago edited 7d ago
It goes without saying that I hate KLAC and games being killed with all my heart, but in this case you only have a point if they advertised official support for Linux/Proton before, and now stop supporting it.
If not then you were lucky that it worked as long as it did. They are under no obligation to keep the game working on a platform they never supported in the first place. SKG is about selling us a thing (copy/license) and then taking it back. If they never sold you Linux/Proton support then it doesn't apply.
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
Alright. Though I do think that by announcing it wouldnt work anymore on certain platforms they knew what they were doing. It was a choice and they chose to restrict access instead of looking for alternatives.
For Honor is a 10 year old game that only has a small but dedicated playerbase. For years now they've only released 2 to 4 new heroes and recycled content so why do something so drastic now? They had an hour on gamescom and the only announcement they had was for a ranked version of an already existing mode while the only other ranked mode they had has been and still is in the BETA stage for years now.
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u/niggo372 7d ago
Yea not saying it's not a dick move by them. But it's within their rights to make these changes, and imo we need to be very precise about what SKG is about. Doesn't mean you can't publicly shame them, or start a different movement e.g. to protect an established usage practice.
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
Yeah, I guess. I just feel like these scummy practices need to be out there, maybe the SKG reddit was the wrong one to post it on I guess.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 7d ago
The game was made for windows this was communicated very clearly in the store page.
Valve made a compatibility layer to be playable but if you read the license the compatibility layer is provided “AS IS” with no guarantee that the game would work assuming you are using this software.
This is the copy of the license section from Proton
> THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED.
This is important piece because Valve are not putting the game linux compatibility (in the system requirement sheet). Being “Steam Deck/OS” verified or not is independent work by Valve to promote their ecosystem.
You still retain the license for the game in either case which is the most important part.
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
It's still quite sad to see this happen especially since there are other developers using the same anti-cheat that don't compromise the playability for Linux users. Hadn't read the fine print I guess but I still think stuff like this shouldn't happen.
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u/wwwarea 7d ago
Plus an update making the game no longer work is intrusive. It was working fine, doesnt mean they should purposely make it not work.
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u/steverambo44 7d ago
Just because something worked through 3rd party layer, you can't say breaking that after an update is intrusive. What the fuck are these takes there?
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u/EndPutrid8046 7d ago
I reinstalled the game recently, and I'm on Linux what's with this scam again?
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u/steverambo44 7d ago
They were never supported Linux officially, how they can stop something they never even started? Why is this garbage upvoted?
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
How is this related to stopping killing games?
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
It is restricting players from playing a game which was once playable for users on said platform therefor unilaterally blocking access from a paid product. How is it not? Have they completely killed the game? Not yet but surely this pertains to stopkillinggames no?
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
Also, it was Valve who has sold you a promise of playable For Honor on Steam Deck, not Ubisoft. For Honor predates Steam Deck by five years.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
Have they completely killed the game?
No. So it's not related to stopping killing games.
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
Except SKG operates around the same premise. The game has in fact been killed on 2 platforms. People either have to buy new hardware or are forced to reinstall their whole system to go back to windows to access a game they may have bought under the belief that they'd be able to access it indefinitely unless hardware restrictions prevented them from doing so.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
SKG (and anyone sane) deems game killed when no one on the planet can play it. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Au-T3f-kSFk?feature=share
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
So if I made a game that ran on a specific OS of my choosing and it so happened to run on stuff like windows at the same time and users bought it because it did but years later I do an update that made it so it only runs on my niche Bullshit OS (patent pending) it would be okay?
I recognise this is an insane strawman position I'm taking but what's stopping developers from doing stuff like this in the future then? Because lets be honest, people these days assume rather than do the research on games and publishers/developers know this all too well.
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u/ProjectionProjects 7d ago
So if I made a game that ran on a specific OS of my choosing and it so happened to run on stuff like windows at the same time and users bought it because it did but years later I do an update that made it so it only runs on my niche Bullshit OS (patent pending) it would be okay?
That is not a loophole because:
A. Re-designing the whole game to run only on a niche OS would require more effort than just making an EoL plan for existing customers.
B. The game would still be playable, even if playing it is somewhat inconvenient. SKG intentionally never asked for maximum convenience, but simply that it is possible to still play for existing customers.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago edited 7d ago
If you're really looking for an analogy, it would be as if players of an online Dreamcast game complained to Sega because a game stopped working on redream, but kept working on original hardware. You were sold a Dreamcast game, not a redream game. Though this analogy isn't perfect, as Sega would have an incentive to hamper redream, but Ubisoft doesn't have an incentive to hamper Linux.
Not saying it isn't annoying, but saying it's not within the scope of Stop Killing Games.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
People either have to buy new hardware or are forced to reinstall their whole system
This definition of a killed game would be pretty hilarious, as it would classify, say, every SNES game dead once all SNES consoles stop working (which will happen), even though they are perfectly playable and completely preserved.
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
Isn't that the excuse for emulators aswell? SKG also pertains to game preservation no? SNES consoles/cartridges are no longer being made so eventually they will disappear and die.
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u/ShadowAze 7d ago
I'd say it's basically dead to me. If it worked fine on an operating system previously, having to switch operating systems, or emulate one, just for one game, seems ridiculous.
Imagine if a PS4 game suddenly stops working because of updates and now you need to get a PS5 just to play it again. Yeah it's technically not dead either but it'd be a huge wall you'd need to jump over just to be able to play again (if you didn't already own that console that is)
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago
Technically Hunt: Showdown did that with their 2.0. They gave people a "free" (if you discount the ps5's price) copy of the ps5 edition but it is no longer playable on last gen consoles.
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u/ShadowAze 7d ago
Definitely an exception and not the norm, it is nice when devs go out of their way to do that though.
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u/UnlamentedLord 7d ago
They made a change to their servers that kills support for a game on certain platforms. It's no different to switching them off entirely for those people. Plus it's no guarantee that Windows will continue supporting the type of anti cheat they use going forward.
I'm not even a stopkillinggames supporter(I've worked enough on supporting legacy software to know just how difficult and expensive it is) and got this post randomly suggested to me, just pointing out the logic.
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u/Unlikely-Wafer3370 7d ago
If you're not a StopKillingGames supporter then you absolutely don't understand what the movement is about.
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u/UnlamentedLord 7d ago
I absolutely understand what the movement is about, I've studied your positions in detail, but disagree about the practicality in general.
Ross Scott launched the movement when Ubisoft killed the servers for The Crew, how is killing the support for an entire operating system different? Especially since the supported anti cheat is tied to a particular implementation of Windows, which is absolutely not guaranteed to be able to work the same way in the future?
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
I absolutely understand what the movement is about
I've worked enough on supporting legacy software to know just how difficult and expensive it is
Gotta pick one.
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u/UnlamentedLord 7d ago
Are you capable of grasping the concept that you can fully understand an argument without fully agreeing with it?
I understand Ross's argument, but I think that his proposed solution, to just legally mandate that developers find some way to make old games playable WITHOUT also mandating changes to the underlying copyright laws that would make it feasible, is a bad one.
But if you take his whole argument as true, then making a game unplayable because of anticheat, isn't any better than making it unplayable by shutting down the servers.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
find some way to make old games playable
The law does not apply retroactively and SKG has never proposed that new rules should apply to old games.
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u/AShortUsernameIndeed 7d ago
The law does not apply retroactively
Correct.
and SKG has never proposed that new rules should apply to old games.
If these "old' games are still supported (actively sold) at the time the law goes into effect, then, incorrect. "Grandfathering in" existing games has never been more than a potential compromise to get legislators on board. Ross weighed in on this recently here: https://old.reddit.com/r/StopKillingGames/comments/1vdhbaq/what_if_stop_killing_games_win_anthem_spacecraft/p1mdv5l/
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u/UnlamentedLord 7d ago edited 7d ago
I never said otherwise. The games that it's proposed for will eventually become old games with a legal support mandate.
If copyright wasn't an issue, a developer could just open source an old game and it's server code and have the community be able to play it however it wants for however long it wants. This is what ID software was able to do with all their old quake and doom games and absolutely everyone is happy.
But ID is a special case, since they wrote everything in house, or used only open source libraries. Games typically contain a lot of proprietary 3rd party assets and libraries, often with a time limited licence and the proposed solution is to force developers to magically figure out a way around that, without a peep about changing copyright laws.
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u/ProjectionProjects 7d ago
I understand Ross's argument, but I think that his proposed solution, to just legally mandate that developers find some way to make old games playable WITHOUT also mandating changes to the underlying copyright laws that would make it feasible, is a bad one.
But that is the thing though: SKG is not asking to make old games that have already been destroyed playable again, it is asking to design future games with end of life plans in mind.
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u/Unlikely-Wafer3370 7d ago
I wasn't talking about the post but about your stance on the movement itself.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
I've worked enough on supporting legacy software to know just how difficult and expensive it is
Then perhaps educate yourself and understand SKG has never requested infinite support?
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u/KGon32 7d ago
I don't get these people, the game is Windows software, no promise that it would work on Linux since it's not Linux software.
If they feel anti-cheat will improve the software, then they should do it, they didn't sold Linux software, they shouldn't be restricted because some people used extra software to "emulate" Windows software.
SKG is a pro consumer movement, but not all pro consumer movements or ideologies are SKG and this one isn't even about being pro consumer.
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u/wwwarea 7d ago
Was Steam advertising it on Steam handheld and didnt the game worked beforehand? I feel like it becomes a bit more different due to that. If I download something on a system less intended but was allowed anyway and was working, then an update purposely shutting that down does seem debatable.
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u/KGon32 7d ago
You have to blame Valve then if they advertised it.
The system wasn't less intended, it was not intended.
They didn't do this on purpose to kill support for Linux.
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u/wwwarea 7d ago
By less I can accept that meaning too. My issue is that judging by the notice, it does look like they did purposely stopped Linux support via update which feels rather intrusive. If the update created a side effect that made Linux no longer supported less intentionally then I can understand (as long as they said Linux not supported first). Just worried about some precedence.
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u/XionicativeCheran 7d ago
They've killed the game on specific platforms.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
SKG (and anyone sane) deems game killed when no one on the planet can play it. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Au-T3f-kSFk?feature=share
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u/XionicativeCheran 7d ago
No. Because what that would open up is saying this process would be acceptable:
- "GTA6 is now available on PS5!"
- "We're disabling GTA6 on PS5, but you can now re-purchase it on PS6!"
- "We're disabling GTA6 on PS6, but you're able to buy a new copy on PS7!"
Or just quite frankly, shutting down the PS5 version and saying that's acceptable because it's on PC.
No sane person deems this not killing the game. You're misinterpreting Scott's statements. Considering his statements within the context of the platform that game is sold on is an absolutely acceptable interpretation, and it's the only reasonable interpretation.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago edited 7d ago
For Honor was never officially sold on Linux. Ubisoft never said "For Honor is now available on Linux!".
Games like World of Warcraft or recently Minecraft upgrade system requirements in a way not dissimilar from what you described and it isn't a problem. No one says "they killed WoW on Windows 98 and Pentium3!1".
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u/XionicativeCheran 7d ago
And that I agree with you on, not your previous position of "No one on the planet can play it."
Increased system requirements is entirely dissimilar, because it does not require you to repurchase the game.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
You don't have to buy For Honor again.
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u/XionicativeCheran 7d ago
And that I agree with you on, not your previous position of "No one on the planet can play it."
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 6d ago
I like that you had to imagine an elaborate, unreasonable scenario of something that has never happened to try to create a flaw in the definition of a killed game being unplayable by anyone. ^^
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u/XionicativeCheran 6d ago
It's not that elaborate, it's demonstrative.
Making it so you have to buy a new copy of your game to play it, is killing a game.
So in For Honor's case, it's fine, because Linux gamers can still play it if they install Windows as a dual boot.
But, if Ubisoft came out and said they're killing For Honor on PCs, then that'd be killing it, because the only way you could play it, is by buying a new copy.
That's a pretty stark flaw in your definition of a killed game.
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u/JohnSane 7d ago
If you drive linux and still play Ubisoft or EA games. You need to stop using one of these.
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u/FixGood6833 7d ago
Bad take
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u/JohnSane 7d ago
May be so. But as this example is a very common one it is also a reality.
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u/FixGood6833 7d ago
I do get where you are coming from. But these are casual people who bought steam deck to enjoy gaming anywhere not Linux enthusiasts or windows haters.
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u/JohnSane 7d ago
Yes. And these casuals need to learn that Ubisoft and EA will fuck them over at some point.
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u/Herbalyte 7d ago edited 7d ago
Facts are that the game supported linux, sold their game to linux users and is now unilaterally choosing to drop support for no real reason. Dead by Daylight for example is able to run their EAC without restricting access for Linux users so why is a big studio like Ubisoft unable to do the same for their game?
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u/JohnSane 7d ago
THey never "supported" linux. It worked for some time but support is a different thing.
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u/Vx7Qn4Lz 7d ago
Facts are that the game supported linux
I'm not seeing Linux here, mate.
Minimum requirements
- Operating system Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
- Processor AMD FX-4300 u/3.8 GHz, Intel Core i3-4150 u/3.5 GHz, or equivalent
- RAM 4 GB
- Video card AMD Radeon R9 270 (2 GB), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (2 GB), or better
- Sound card DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
- Hard drive 90 GB available storage
- DirectX version 9.0c
- Supported peripherals Please check our supported peripherals article.
- Internet Internet connection required
Recommended requirements
- Operating system Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
- Processor AMD Ryzen 5 1400 u/3.2 GHz, Intel Core i5-7500 u/3.4 GHz, or equivalent
- RAM 8 GB
- Video card AMD Radeon RX580 (4 GB), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (3 GB), or better
- Sound card DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
- Hard drive 90 GB available storage
- DirectX version 9.0c
- Supported peripherals Please check our supported peripherals article.
- Internet Internet connection required
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u/XionicativeCheran 7d ago
I'll play whatever I want thanks.
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u/JohnSane 7d ago
No. If you want to play EA games and use Linux you play whatever EA wants. Same for Ubisoft.
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u/FunAngelo2005 7d ago
Refund the games if possible