Column: Has EA Killed WRC With Latest Anti-cheat Update?

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Images: EA Sports
In the latest EA Sports WRC update, 1.9.0, the new EA anti-cheat technology was added. Security issues and privacy violations have been listed as just two of the potential issues with this new mandatory anti-cheat update.

EA Sports WRC has been in hot water ever since the latest update dropped on PC. The update included the latest variant of EA's anti-cheat that ruins the online aspect of WRC for Steamdeck users and potentially compromises every PC that the game is installed on...

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Hyundai Rally1 WRC.

What is the new EA anti-cheat?​

The truth about the EA anti-cheat is that is it what is known as 'Kernel malware'. This virus is installed with an external program, like a video game, and gives the owner full access to a PC.

EA has specifically stated that the technology will be limited to just the anti-cheat abilities. Unfortunately, EA does not have a good track record with their invasive game updates. The security of the EA anti-cheat is also a huge risk. The program links all accounts together, so if a hacker gets in they will have access to any data they want.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1813589484723995076

Flocks of players are leaving and uninstalling the game because of this security risk. EA Sports has yet to remove this new invasion of privacy, but with players actively rioting on X, surely it is only a matter of time?

Is This a Security Risk?​

The short answer is, it could be. The power of this anti-cheat Facaded malware is that it latches onto your PC from its core. It has access to all of your files, folders and even website cookies and history. It could corrupt your files or even worse, your operating system. This would effectively write your PC off and everything on it as well.

EA have a history of weak coding protection protocols and an even worse reputation for general security. These breaches could have catastrophic consequences in a worst-case scenario. For a more detailed breakdown of this software, check out the video below.


So what is the fix? It is as simple as you are thinking. Revert the system and remove the kernel malware from the game and the player's PC. Nobody signed up to have this software installed on their computer when they bought the game, so EA needs to rethink its implementation of this anti-cheat software.

Broken Platforms and Features​

The other major impact this update has is on SteamDeck players. This new update completely breaks the game for those users. This new anti-cheat is a fully built-in house piece of software that replaces and removes the title's compatibility with anything that isn't Windows, like Linux and SteamOS for example.

The other big hit is for the VR players. VR was one of the flagship aspects of the game throughout its first few months. With a game as immersive and detailed as WRC, not fixing the VR issues is a massive slap in the face for those who play the game in that way.

We really want to hear from you, our community, about how this will affect your opinion of EA and their WRC game as a whole. Let us know in the comments below!
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Connor Minniss
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

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Comments

W
Kevin Troschinski said:
So is it potentially dangerous to play the game now or just to have it still installed?
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Your PC won't explode and it shouldn't effect any of your other games or software. If you have concerns about it accessing your information, that is valid concern, especially with EA being behind it, but if that is what's troubling you then you shouldn't have gotten a EA game to begin with. The Kernel Level Anti Cheat that they are implementing has been and is featured in a handful of other games you might have played in the past.
The issue here is two point, one that this update breaks Linux support because of the new anti cheat system and secondly and more importantly the unnecessary need of it. The development team should instead focus on other parts of the game, in my opinion the poor performance which is still an issue.
 
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Kevin Troschinski
watam said:
Your PC won't explode and it shouldn't effect any of your other games or software. If you have concerns about it accessing your information, that is valid concern, especially with EA being behind it, but if that is what's troubling you then you shouldn't have gotten a EA game to begin with. The Kernel Level Anti Cheat that they are implementing has been and is featured in a handful of other games you might have played in the past.
The issue here is two point, one that this update breaks Linux support because of the new anti cheat system and secondly and more importantly the unnecessary need of it. The development team should instead focus on other parts of the game, in my opinion the poor performance which is still an issue.
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Thanks for clarifying :) So the article seems to be a bit clickbait i suppose :whistling:
 
Pete Conway
Premium
I think , I Know, that even if EA games remove the anti cheat 'virus' I'll still not bother with any of the products they're involved with, so I won't be firing my money into their pockets, the reason is the mindset that says "yup, this is OK" will still be there, and that attitude isn't the one for me.
 
W
watam said:
Your PC won't explode and it shouldn't effect any of your other games or software. If you have concerns about it accessing your information, that is valid concern, especially with EA being behind it, but if that is what's troubling you then you shouldn't have gotten a EA game to begin with. The Kernel Level Anti Cheat that they are implementing has been and is featured in a handful of other games you might have played in the past.
The issue here is two point, one that this update breaks Linux support because of the new anti cheat system and secondly and more importantly the unnecessary need of it. The development team should instead focus on other parts of the game, in my opinion the poor performance which is still an issue.
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A better explanation than the article did.
 
MJQT
For anyone who already plays other popular EA games like the F1, FC, or Battlefield series, I believe you already have this anti-cheat installed - so there is no additional risk to using EA WRC.

For me, who owns no current EA games, I'd be significantly increasing the security and privacy risk on my system. Therefore, the presence of the anti-cheat makes me strongly consider never purchasing this game. Which is disappointing, because the stages look gorgeous, and I really enjoy rallying... but I can stick to RBR.

The worst part is that it's not clear that an anti-cheat (even an invasive, potentially dangerous one like this) stops determined cheaters. I've heard from that immediately following the anti-cheat update, there were STILL world record times being posted that were clearly cheated. My willingness to accept this sort of invasive anti-cheat decreases exponentially if it doesn't even stop the problem!
 
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P
JayOTT said:
You can always buy it on console instead and that is what I did because of Denuvo
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Several weeks I see people and articles complaining about this "kernel level anti cheat" and first time I see someone telling it's Denuvo, to the point I thought it was a new proprietary anti cheat from EA. I get that people always complain about Denuvo, for good reasons, and even more when it's added after the release, but this time it seems different, the magic words seems to be "kernel level" and people seems to discover what's there since decades.

I would love to see how many people complaining about this anti cheat have, or already had in the past, other games using Denuvo installed on their PC.

And people blame EA, but Codemasters uses Denuvo on F1 games since 2016, so it's not necessarily a consequence of EA getting on board.

Funnily enough, Kylotonn's WRC 6 and 7 use Denuvo, and I saw many people playing to WRC 7 because it was free not long ago. How many of them uninstalled EA Sports WRC because it uses Denuvo? :)
 
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CorsairBadger
But... Every anti-cheat has Kernel-level access. They all work the same way, because if they weren't at the core of the PC (kernel) then cheats would just be built to run one stage lower than the anti-cheat and never be picked up or flagged... Granted, some are more sinister than others like Valorant's anti-cheat which has included spyware and runs 24/7 on your system, but EA AntiCheat runs as a DLL and is only active whilst the game is active just like Easy Anti Cheat, BattlEye etc. This article about EA AntiCheat which, albeit being a relatively bad anti-cheat, is completely overdramatised and based around scaremongering. Stop it. Just, stop it.
 
J
pinkimo said:
Several weeks I see people and articles complaining about this "kernel level anti cheat" and first time I see someone telling it's Denuvo, to the point I thought it was a new proprietary anti cheat from EA.
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The anti-cheat is an entirely separate thing that is developed by EA themselves. My point in mentioning Denuvo is that this now makes two scummy background programs running any time you want to play WRC on the PC.
 
AndyC709292
Well, I read this and a few comments around the subject, and not being enamored with the game I uninstalled it.

Wanting a rally game though, I installed WRC Generations - and so very glad I did.

Certainly not as graphically pretty as EA WRC, but the playability is much higher.

I'd say driving is much easier in Generations, it's a flattering game (I'm crap at rally) - but if you want something between Dirt 4 and Dirt Rally 2, this is it.

Most importantly, Generations has me wanting to go play it again, EA WRC just didn't - notwithstanding the nonsense going on with it now.
 
G
It was completely ruined already before anti cheat. But anti cheat made it incompatible with my vr headset.

So yes they ruined the whole title now. Bunch of morons at EA/CM.
 
P
JayOTT said:
The anti-cheat is an entirely separate thing that is developed by EA themselves. My point in mentioning Denuvo is that this now makes two scummy background programs running any time you want to play WRC on the PC.
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Oh, I misread when I made a small search, Denuvo Anti-tamper was there from day one to prevent cracking, and so we have now the pleasure to have a second kernel level app as an anticheat, and not the Denuvo one but a new proprietary one which is way more likely to cause issues... So now I get why people complain more than usual :)
 
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TomLehockySVK
Slapped said:
Honestly I think I'm going to try my luck with a refund. I've only got 78 minutes in it as it ran like a sick dog's excrement on release and I never went back to it. That said I'm way outside the 2 week refund window.

Even so I think that the fact the EA has effectively changed the terms of the original sale stands me in relatively good stead. Plus the fact that I don't have much of a history with requesting refunds on Steam.

If EA were to offer the option of playing it offline without the anti-cheat then I would be OK with that, especially given that it's predominantly a single player game. However given that it is predominantly a single player game it beggars belief as to why EA thought that anti-cheat running at a kernel level was a good idea.
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It is still worth trying asking for a refund. I had nearly 3 hours of playtime and gave my reason that i did not buy the game knowing there will be kernel level anti-cheat added. My refund request was accepted just a few hours later.
 
B
Thanks for the heads up, EA WRC is off from my hard drive... actually has little use because of the hideous VR implementation.
RBR is giving me all the Rally adrenaline I need whem DR2 stages gets repetitive.
Will request a refund but not keeping my expectations high.
EA is crap.
 
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PiccoloLost
I was planning to buy the game later this year but I won't . I'll stick to Dirt rally 2.
Moreover, who cares if someone is cheating? Most players are not, so I can clearly check my performance vs others .
 
Antoniopua
I would have preferred it to have been optional. I can't use Reshade anymore, but I can use Mod... the loads are also a little (quite a bit) longer. But you can play.
 
O
Steam should refund if you mention kernel-access anti-cheat being added after the purchase. And if not, then theres always credit card charge back.
 
B
balamacab said:
Thanks for the heads up, EA WRC is off from my hard drive... actually has little use because of the hideous VR implementation.
RBR is giving me all the Rally adrenaline I need whem DR2 stages gets repetitive.
Will request a refund but not keeping my expectations high.
EA is crap.
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And I down voted in Steam.
 

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