Call of Duty and Battlefield 6 require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0
A couple of days ago, Electronic Arts announced that Battlefield 6 would require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 on Windows PCs. Now, Activision has announced that Call of Duty
EA's Battlefield 6 will use Javelin anti-cheat, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will use Ricochet for their respective anti-cheat systems. Such tools are used in games like Valorant (Vanguard), and Fortnite (Easy Anti-Cheat).
Why do they need TPM and Secure Boot?
TPM is required by anti-cheat software to identify unique hardware, to check that they are not tampered with, i.e. it only loads signed drivers, firmware. Is it fingerprinting? Yes, that's how they know you're not using cheating tools, and stuff like that. Secure Boot prevents unsigned programs from loading during startup. Games with anti-cheat can identify cheaters and issue hardware ID bans, which cannot be bypassed, unless they replace the hardware.
Secure Boot and TPM are enabled on new computers, if your PC can run the game, it supports the protocols. That's not really the problem, the issue is, allowing kernel level access for anti-cheat. While such tools can protect gamers from cheaters, it's a double-edged sword. Kernel level anti-cheat could practically be exploited as a rootkit. In 2022, Ransomware attacks targeted the anti-cheat driver used by Genshin Impact to shut down the antivirus on PCs. Several Call of Duty titles were also targeted by Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks and Remote Access Trojans (RAT) a couple of years ago, there was an attack that targeted COD: WWII last month.
Besides telemetry issues, kernel level anti-cheat could potentially cause system crashes, BSODs, etc. Remember the CrowdStrike fiasco? Well, that was using kernel-level code.
Windows 11 requires TPM anyway, and Windows 10 is being retired soon, so you can probably expect more games to require it for anti-cheat. And Secure Boot is a must-have feature to protect Windows from rootkits, unsigned apps or drivers that may run at start.
Linux is a different story, Secure Boot on Linux is optional. Some Linux LIVE USBs/ISO may not boot with Secure Boot on, for example, the ones that you create are not signed. The same applies to custom kernels, and other tools you may have. But, yes, you can use TPM and Secure Boot even if you dual boot Windows and Linux.
Is opening up a security hole and allowing fingerprinting worth it? Well, that's for you to decide.
This will cost them millions in PC game sales. Most of us are already sick of their games being more P2W and sales of skins based then actually being a game anymore. We all know that TPM isn’t going to do anything to stop cheating. The only way to even slow it down would to being back private servers, like we used to have. I for one will not by spending another dime on any publisher that is pushing for this crap. There is zero reason for a game to have more access to my PC, then I do, (before making tons of changes).
Huge security risk esp for global south nations under the crosshairs of wall street and the U.S military industrial complex that created this garbage.
Microsoft is already moving it’s AV out of the kernel for security reasons, why would they let gaming companies move in?
This is just dumb.
From this point on, it’s a slippery slope, so we need to proceed with caution. First, online services will be required to verify users’ ages, and soon, remote attestation will be mandatory. This is why I exclusively use legacy or open-source software. Don’t rely on online services or anything tied to WebView2 crapware.