Following the Battlefield 6 beta, Battlefield 6 developer DICE and publisher EA implemented a Secure Boot requirement to combat cheating, and many players discovered they couldn’t launch the beta due to it. The technical director spoke to the press after the beta and said it “sucks” that some PCs can’t meet that anti-cheat setting.
Secure Boot requirement and the beta backlash
Cheating is a known problem for multiplayer shooters, and EA published details about how its anti-cheat measures performed during the beta. The company says Javelin blocked more than 330,000 “attempts to cheat or tamper with anti-cheat controls,” and players flagged over 100,000 potential cheaters in two days, according to EA’s reporting on the matter in their forum post.
That pressure to stop kernel-level tampering is why the game refuses to run without Secure Boot enabled; however, the trade-off is harsh: a notable number of testers were unable to access the beta at all. Some in the community created a Battlefield subreddit megathread to assist those experiencing launch errors, and others shared fixes and workarounds.
Secure Boot Megathread – Guide + Community support
byu/sloth_on_meth inBattlefield
EA reasons that Secure Boot gives anti-cheat systems protection early in the Windows boot process, which helps combat:
- Kernel-Level Cheats and Rootkits
- Memory Manipulation and Injection
- Spoofing and Hardware ID Manipulation
- Virtual Machines and Emulation
- Tampering with Anti-Cheat Systems
Christian Buhl, Battlefield 6 technical director, talked about the requirement in a technical director interview, admitting he dislikes that the setting blocks some players. He said he wishes players could access the game without dealing with these kinds of boot-level protections, but that the team felt the anti-cheat benefits outweighed the downsides. If you want the company’s own breakdown, read EA’s Secure Boot post, which explains their approach during the beta.
System requirements are worth checking if you’re unsure whether your PC will meet the requirements; here’s a link to the system requirements roundup. Also, Activision appears to be following a similar route, as noted in commentary about Call of Duty Black Ops 7 using Secure Boot.
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