“Successful disruption of the cheater community” — Battlefield 6 says its kernel-level anticheat EA Javelin has been a huge success, so dealing with Secure Boot was worth it

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Cheating has been a persistent problem in online games since the beginning. Game developers constantly work to fight it using programs designed to stop or find hackers, and then ban their accounts. Many developers use external services like Easy Anti-Cheat or BattlEye, while others create their own anti-cheat software.

Electronic Arts (EA) uses a security program called EA Javelin in its games. What makes Javelin different is that it’s a ‘kernel-level’ anticheat system. This means it runs deep within your computer’s operating system, even bypassing standard security measures, to try and detect and prevent cheating more effectively. However, this approach is controversial because of the deep level of access it requires.

People have long debated whether programs that operate at the core of your operating system – like some anti-cheat software – are truly needed. Many believe this deep level of access isn’t essential for detecting cheating. However, Electronic Arts and Battlefield Studios claim their new anti-cheat system, Javelin, is working very well in the latest Battlefield 6 game.

A recent report from the developers of Battlefield reveals that their anti-cheat system, Javelin, has successfully blocked 2.39 million cheating attempts since the game launched on October 10th. They’ve identified 190 different cheating programs and sellers, and a remarkable 183 of those (96.3%) have either stopped working or been shut down.

Battlefield Studios reported that during the first week after launch, only 2% of matches had a cheater, meaning 98% were hacker-free. They also shared data showing that after a month, the rate had only increased slightly to around 2.3-2.5%.

The Match Infection Rate (MIR) of games played during Battlefield 6’s Open Beta.

The Match Infection Rate (MIR) of games played during the month after Battlefield 6’s launch.

The success in combating cheaters stemmed from testing and refining Javelin during the Battlefield 6 Open Beta in August. During the beta weekends, over 1.2 million cheating attempts were blocked, and the percentage of matches played without cheaters increased from 93.1% to 98%.

As a user, I was really happy to see how much more secure things were becoming! It’s great that Secure Boot – that security feature built into your computer’s startup – became way more common during the beta testing. They said it went from being enabled on about 62.5% of systems to a whopping 92.5% by the time the beta finished, which means a lot more people were protected from nasty malware and unreliable software.

Setting up Secure Boot can be tricky, and in games like the latest Call of Duty titles, it hasn’t always been successful at stopping cheaters, especially when combined with kernel-level anti-cheat software. However, it seems Javelin is using Secure Boot very effectively, making the effort to enable it in your computer’s BIOS worthwhile.

Battlestate Games is committed to ongoing improvements to its anti-cheat system, Javelin, and is also working to simplify the process for players to report suspected cheaters. The fight against cheating is a constant effort, and they plan to stay ahead of it.

The game developers are also working to counter devices like the Cronus Zen, which let players use a mouse and keyboard while still benefiting from the aim assistance normally reserved for controllers. They understand some players use these devices for accessibility and suggest using official accessibility controllers, such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller or PlayStation Access Controller, instead.

So far, cheating hasn’t been a significant problem in Battlefield 6, which is really encouraging. I’ve personally played over 120 hours of multiplayer and haven’t encountered any cheaters. It’s too early to say if this will continue, but hopefully EA and Battlefield Studios keep up the good work protecting the game.

Battlefield 6 is currently offering a free trial week. If you enjoy it, you can purchase the full game for $69.99 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Right now, you can find it on sale for $60.69 at Loaded for the Xbox version and on the EA App for PC as part of Black Friday deals.

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2025-11-29 00:43