Helldivers 2 is one of the most popular games of this year. No matter what other games come out during the rest of 2024, it is impossible for any amount of games to overshadow its success. It has performed great in sales, critics have praised it, and it doesn’t seem like interest in it will fade away in the near future. However, that doesn’t mean the game doesn’t have some flaws. Aspects that don’t excite the community as much. One of them, its anti-cheat system.
For Helldivers 2 at Arrowhead Game Studios, the studio behind the game’s development, they have used an anti-cheat system called nProtect GameGuard. This is a system created by INCA, a South Korean company that has been offering computer security products since 2000. In addition to being the company that holds 70% of the security information in the stock market and 90% of the security portals for video games in Korea, it has a strong presence in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
What is then the problem with nProtect GameGuard? It is a system that runs at kernel level, being particularly restrictive and capable of manipulating our computer at its core. Something that makes players feel insecure, as it is theoretically possible to manipulate their computer without their knowledge. But the most problematic thing is that this system is interfering with the ability to play, at all, for some people.
Steven Spohn, director of the charity organization AbleGamers that aims to bring video games to people with disabilities, recently commented on his Twitter that Helldivers 2 was impossible for him to play. Due to his disability, Spohn needs to use various programs and hardcore equipment to manipulate the game, something that the anti-cheat protocols of nProtect GameGuard identify as cheats. Due to their functioning, what they do is that, upon entering the game, they block Spohn’s assistive technology, making it impossible for him to play at all.
This is not something new for Spohn or other players with disabilities. Games like Escape from Tarkov or Fortnite often give false positives with assistive technology, which can lead to a ban on the accounts of the people who use them. This can usually be resolved by contacting technical support and explaining their case. It becomes more complex with a kernel-based anticheat like nProtect GameGuard.
The reason why it is more difficult is because if the system allows access to assistive technology, hackers could pass their cheats as assistive technology and bypass their traps. Something that makes the situation more complex, precisely because of the nature of the system.
In any case, this should not prevent people like Spohn, or other people with disabilities, from being able to play video games. It is unfair and not right. That is why, although the biggest fear of players with nProtect GameGuard is that by having kernel access they can take control of their computers, the problem lies more in how it is always the most vulnerable who pay the price.
