The biggest news about Battlefield 6 is the whole matter of anti-cheat systems with EA. The company announced that the Javelin Anti-Cheat would be used on the new shooter, the same anti-cheat that was first implemented in Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Labs. But now, the pressing matter is-Does it even work??
From the get-go, the players get divided. Some say no cheats have ever existed on 2042 for 2042, while others are willing to provide evidence for such claims. GhostofHax, who confessed that he had been cheating for 5 months on 2042 without ever being banned-implying Javelin badly, doesn’t it?
The Secure Boot scandal geng: it is rumored that Javelin requires Windows 11 Secure Boot and TPM (Trusted Platform Module), putting some PC gamers on edge. Heavens, Gore_Gantua himself posted about how much of a chore it was getting set up, especially on Windows 10. To be fair, forcing players to jam about in their BIOS to actually get a game launched? That’s one hell of a user experience.
Finally, according to EA, Javelin has stopped millions of cheats with 99 percent accuracy and has reduced cheating by 50 percent. Nice stat… until you remember that cheaters always find a way. ForsakenCrown joked about how their anti-cheat stopped their stormtrooper mods in BFV but somehow missed real hackers. Chapter and verse.
And then there’s the performance: lag, stuttering, weird phenomenons, and all otherwise great grapes pop up every time a parent mentions that Javelin is running in the background. And the least we could say is not so nice about its compatibility with Linux and the Steam Deck- an outright no-go for a handheld.
So, what’s the verdict? I would say middle-of-the-road at best. Javelin will probably deter a few script kiddies using free cheats; however, those hardcore hackers holding down all those paid tools? They’re probably going to laughing their way to the leaderboards with these stakes now sky high, given the possibility of a Battle Royale mode in BF6 (and most certainly will).
What looks apparent is that the players have had it with the empty promises. MW3_Bloodline said it better: “What we want is ruthless Devs untied from the suits to deal with the horrendous DMA cheaters.” Until then, we’ll just have to watch and hope that Javelin either lives up to the hype or ends up becoming just another layer of security theater.
End of the day, anti-cheat is an arms race forever, and EA has thrown its hat into the ring through Javelin. Cheating in Battlefield 6-how much impact can have, is something yet to be determined. Here’s hoping they prove everyone wrong; nobody likes losing to a guy with an aimbot and a God complex.
