Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10 • Hacker News Board

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#111

Post by ben-schaaf » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:01 PM UTC

flaunf221 wrote: post #86

ben-schaaf wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've stated in their patch notes that they made a change specifically to run on the steam deck. Regardless of what they say now, they have actively supported linux in the past and so should be liable for breaking the game for those customers. https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/for-honor/news-updates/6j...

> made a change specifically to run on the steam deck No, they didn't, you don't need to lie. From your url: > EASY ANTI-CHEAT > Updated Easy Anti-Cheat client module and library. > Developer's Comment:* This update of Easy Anti-Cheat makes the game playable on Steam Deck.* That is not "we made a change to specifically run on deck." Steam deck support might be accidental side effect of them getting newer anti-cheat t…

You need to include extra files and enable a flag for EAC to work on Linux. You don't do that by accident.

You also don't advertise that it works on the steam deck by accident.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#112

Post by tapoxi » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:16 PM UTC

happymellon wrote: post #96

tapoxi wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve should. Valve is the one making these games available for purchase on non-Windows platforms. Ubisoft never supported this.

The money was given to Ubisoft, it should be returned.

The money was given to Valve, which then gave money to Ubisoft. Valve sells the game and handles refunds.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#113

Post by altairprime » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:16 PM UTC

ben-schaaf wrote: post #107

altairprime wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Steam Deck” here means Steam Deck booted into Windows but not Steam Deck booted into Linux, I thought?

No, it means Linux. They enabled the easy anti cheat flag to allow running on Linux.

Wow.

.. that must have been some atrocious telemetry data correlating cheaters and Linux. I wish they’d released a report on it — I mean, fuck Ubisoft, but at least we’d have data to argue about rather than this copout of a release note from them.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#114

Post by tapoxi » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:17 PM UTC

john_strinlai wrote: post #95

tapoxi wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve should. Valve is the one making these games available for purchase on non-Windows platforms. Ubisoft never supported this.

> Valve should. Valve is the one making these games available for purchase on non-Windows platforms. it sounds like you're suggesting valve should be restricting which games they sell depending on the platform you are viewing from? that would be annoying, and ultimately futile. i purchase games from my phone to play on my pc, or from one pc to play on another. i purchase windows-only games and mess around to see if t…

Valve absolutely knows what platform you've logged into desktop Steam from even when you're on a mobile device, and can pop up a dialog during purchase saying "This game requires Microsoft Windows, and you have not been active on that platform in the past 30 days. This game will be supported by Steam Play, and developer support is not guaranteed."

That's a totally reasonable ask.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#115

Post by john_strinlai » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:22 PM UTC

tapoxi wrote: post #114

john_strinlai wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Valve should. Valve is the one making these games available for purchase on non-Windows platforms. it sounds like you're suggesting valve should be restricting which games they sell depending on the platform you are viewing from? that would be annoying, and ultimately futile. i purchase games from my phone to play on my pc, or from one pc to play on another. i purchase windows-only games and mess around to see if t…

Valve absolutely knows what platform you've logged into desktop Steam from even when you're on a mobile device, and can pop up a dialog during purchase saying "This game requires Microsoft Windows, and you have not been active on that platform in the past 30 days. This game will be supported by Steam Play, and developer support is not guaranteed." That's a totally reasonable ask.

a totally reasonable ask is that people read the system requirements already visible on the store page of every game.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#116

Post by altairprime » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:26 PM UTC

bigyabai wrote: post #108

altairprime wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EAC is functionally useless on Linux and can be defeated by anyone with the ability to sudo or to boot a modified operating system. Steam Linux does not supported sealed/signed boot with secure attestation, and supporting 1% market share options that do (if any) is unrealistic for developers, so it’s perfectly sensible for PvP multiplayer games to ban Linux users. Not out of malice or disrespect but out of simple tec…

> Steam Linux does not supported sealed/signed boot with secure attestation Even if it did, you wouldn't stop DMA cheaters from hacking the game. This is the slippery slope we see on Windows with Ring 0 anticheat being defeated with spoofed PCI hardware.

That’s nice, but 99% of cheaters (pre-Win11, anyways) were software-only because the software is $0 with free same-day delivery. Turning off the spigot of pure-software cheating almost entirely empties today’s cesspool, which is partly why Windows 11 requires an TPM, and it won’t refill rapidly due to the simple obstacles of hardware product businesses.

I know that Nvidia’s been implementing attestation for the PCI links to AI GPUs recently, and iirc USB has supported it for a while now (though I’m not sure whether USB-IF has formalized it). I would be shocked if there isn’t already a DDR standard for same coming up in 6 or 7. It’ll take a while to for all this reach the consumer market but the alternative is, as you correctly observe, the gradual decline of trustworthiness of not only attested Win11 gaming PCs but also gaming consoles — but emptying the cesspool of the software cheaters in the meantime remains a sensible step to take.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#117

Post by flaunf221 » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:28 PM UTC

ben-schaaf wrote: post #111

flaunf221 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> made a change specifically to run on the steam deck No, they didn't, you don't need to lie. From your url: > EASY ANTI-CHEAT > Updated Easy Anti-Cheat client module and library. > Developer's Comment:* This update of Easy Anti-Cheat makes the game playable on Steam Deck.* That is not "we made a change to specifically run on deck." Steam deck support might be accidental side effect of them getting newer anti-cheat t…

You need to include extra files and enable a flag for EAC to work on Linux. You don't do that by accident. You also don't advertise that it works on the steam deck by accident.

Ok, I admit I was wrong.

Still user's problem if they manage or not manage to run the game through whatever translation and emulation layers they have instead of using official system requirements.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#118

Post by Telaneo » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:42 PM UTC

john_strinlai wrote: post #101

happymellon wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would deserve a refund because it doesn't work for me. If I buy a shirt, all stores that I go to allow me to return the shirt, or exchange it for store credit. If I go to a grocery store and get the wrong bag of granola, I able to return or exchange it. The question is why Ubisoft deserves special treatment and gets to keep your money if you return it.

> I would deserve a refund because it doesn't work for me. do you not believe in any sort of personal responsibility? on the same page as the "buy" button, it tells you that the game only supports windows. > If I buy a shirt, all stores that I go to allow me to return the shirt, or exchange it for store credit. if you wear it for 9 years, then try to return it, they will say no.

That's only because the shirt would be worn. Digital media doesn't wear out. If that shirt never wore out and it suddenly stopped working in a specific way I use it, it would be reasonable to me to return it.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#119

Post by Telaneo » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC

Aren't there EU laws on modifying software for interoperability and whatnot being legal? This and right-to-repair should block any opportunity for companies to intentionally prevent users from using their software the way they want. I'm sure the laws aren't written to actually to ensure that, but they should be.

Re: Ubisoft's FOR HONOR will block SteamOS / Linux players starting September 10

#120

Post by tapoxi » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 6:47 PM UTC

john_strinlai wrote: post #115

tapoxi wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve absolutely knows what platform you've logged into desktop Steam from even when you're on a mobile device, and can pop up a dialog during purchase saying "This game requires Microsoft Windows, and you have not been active on that platform in the past 30 days. This game will be supported by Steam Play, and developer support is not guaranteed." That's a totally reasonable ask.

a totally reasonable ask is that people read the system requirements already visible on the store page of every game.

When the company running the store sells three hardware products where they say "ignore that, it'll work on our OS" they need to take responsibility.