Electronic Arts has confirmed that the Battlefield 6 PC open beta requires Secure Boot enabled in Windows and UEFI/BIOS. The move sparked debate due to the anti‑cheat’s low‑level access, but EA says the decision is already paying off: within the first 48 hours, the Javelin anti‑cheat engine blocked 330,000 tampering and cheating attempts and received 104,000 in‑game player reports for review.
Why Secure Boot and TPM matter for Battlefield 6 anti‑cheat
Secure Boot is a UEFI feature that only allows cryptographically trusted boot components to run. This helps prevent boot‑stage malware such as rootkits before the operating system’s protections are fully active. When combined with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), the platform supports device identity and measured boot, making hardware ID spoofing and stealthy tampering measurably harder.
EA indicates that leveraging Secure Boot and TPM enables Javelin to counter techniques common in kernel‑mode attacks: kernel‑level cheats and rootkits, unauthorized code injection and memory manipulation, hardware ID obfuscation, virtualization‑based evasion, and attempts to sabotage the anti‑cheat itself. This aligns with industry practices seen in modern PC anti‑cheat systems, which must operate with privileges near the OS kernel to observe and prevent malicious drivers and unsigned code paths that bypass normal integrity checks.
EA’s stance: necessary, but not a silver bullet
Battlefield 6’s technical director acknowledged the requirement as a trade‑off, noting that it can exclude some legitimate players but remains one of the few effective ways to deter kernel‑level cheats. EA stresses that anti‑cheat is a continuous “cat‑and‑mouse” effort: no single control fully eliminates abuse. However, Javelin’s low‑level telemetry and integrity verification form a strong foundation for enforcement and iterative improvement.
Interpreting the early numbers: 330,000 blocks and 104,000 reports
The figure of 330,000 blocked attempts over two days represents prevented actions, not necessarily unique cheaters. It likely includes repeated bypass attempts, automated integrity checks, and thwarted injections at runtime. The 104,000 player reports complement telemetry by supplying human context, which can be used to refine signatures and behavioral models. In practice, high‑volume, multi‑source signals (kernel telemetry, heuristics, and player reports) improve precision and shorten response times in rule updates and machine‑learning classifiers.
Risks and limitations: privacy, compatibility, false positives
Kernel‑level anti‑cheat raises predictable concerns. Deep system visibility can create friction with legacy drivers, custom bootloaders, dual‑boot configurations, or virtualized environments. While rare, false positives can temporarily impact honest players. Best practice in this space includes clear data‑handling policies, transparent update notes, rapid appeal processes, and compatibility testing with common hardware and driver stacks. Microsoft’s own guidance on Secure Boot and driver signing underscores the security benefits but also the need for careful ecosystem alignment.
What PC players should do to avoid issues
To prepare systems for Battlefield 6: 1) update the motherboard UEFI/BIOS and firmware; 2) enable Secure Boot and verify TPM 2.0 is present and activated; 3) update GPU and chipset drivers; 4) disable custom bootloaders and unsigned drivers during play; 5) avoid running the game in a virtual machine; 6) export current UEFI settings before changes. If conflicts arise, consult the motherboard vendor’s documentation and EA support channels.
Kernel‑mode cheating has evolved alongside modern Windows defenses, pushing publishers toward protected boot chains and device attestation. EA’s Secure Boot requirement in Battlefield 6 reduces the attack surface for rootkits, spoofing, and stealth loaders while strengthening the reliability of Javelin’s detections. Players can help by hardening their systems and reporting suspicious behavior, and publishers should reciprocate with technical transparency and responsive appeals. The outcome is a fairer competitive environment and a more resilient PC gaming ecosystem.
