Take Two

Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. Known for action-adventure game franchises is Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.

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Relevant incidents

GTA 4 content removal

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GTA 5 move to Kernel-level AC after purchase

GTA 5 was released 2013. On September 17, 2024 (11 years after release), Rockstar implemented controversial update to include more invasive and dangerous kernel mode anti-cheat by BattlEye.

This update retroactively restricts usage to Windows OS, despite being fully functional on alternative OS's like Linux and SteamOS. Despite Rockstar's claim that GTA 5 is not supported by steam deck, GTA 5 online did work prior to this breaking change. Furthermore, BattlEye actually is compatible with Linux and compatibility can be enabled via email, yet Rockstar deliberately chooses not to take minimal steps to enable support.

In response, Valve has issued refunds for some Steam Deck and Linux users based on some criteria such as hours played on Linux / Steam Deck.

Additionally, Anti-cheat systems can be incredibly invasive with ability to scan users files and processes, including hardware identifier's, according to the privacy policy:

• IP address
• Game identifiers (e.g. in-game name, account ID, etc.)
• Hardware device information and identifiers (e.g. serial numbers)
• Information about the running operating system
• Information about game-related and operating-system-related files and memory
• Information about running processes, drivers and other executable code
• File names included in other information listed here, which might also contain your operating system user name

Due to the inherent privacy and security risks associated with Kernel-mode anti-cheat, increasingly players and developers are demanding more transparency in the usage of Kernel mode software included in games. In response, Valve added a new transparency requirement for developers/publishers to disclose the use of more invasive Kernel-Mode Anti-Cheat solutions

We've heard from more and more developers recently that they're looking for the right way to share anti-cheat information about their game with players. At the same time, players have been requesting more transparency around the anti-cheat services used in games, as well as the existence of any additional software that will be installed within the game.

Going forward, when you submit a new game to Steam, if your game installs a client side, kernel mode anti-cheat, you will need to fill out this new field. We will be going through old games and contacting partners with games that fall into this category. If your game contains a client or server based anti-cheat that is not kernel based, submitting the field is optional but we generally think that any game that makes use of anti-cheat technology would benefit from letting players know.

Specifying Kernel-level Integration - Select this to let players know that your anti-cheat integration installs or modifies files at the OS kernel level for any modes of your game. This is automatically selected or disabled for the relevant common anti-cheat services in the drop-down menu.

Kernal mode anti-cheat solutions carry inherently more risks to the player, as the anti-cheat installs drivers with elevated permissions and sometimes contain vulnerabilities that can leave the user machine and data at risk, much beyond the risks when the software is isolated to user mode permissions. Even Rockstars own instructions suggest adding an exception to anti-virus, only furthering risk to player.

While BattlEye is compatible with most antivirus software, you may run into issues if your antivirus does not recognize BattlEye. To avoid any potential problems, make sure to add BattlEye to your antivirus’ exception list.