Arrowhead Studios has confirmed that Helldivers 2 will transition to Easy Anti-Cheat this week and acknowledged what that means for mods.
In a post on the Helldivers 2 Steam page, Arrowhead says that at some point today, October 20, the game will transition from GameGuard to Easy Anti-Cheat "with additional security tools in place to enhance its effectiveness and improve game integrity protection," as well as implementing "additional security measures" to target cheating mods that have been circulating around the game's community. The post explains, "The implementation of GameGuard for Helldivers 2 wasn't as effective as it could have been, and in the end we decided to take another path with EAC."
This post also sees the Arrowhead team comment on the Helldivers 2 modding community. While the studio notes that it has mostly refrained from doing so, this update gives it an opportunity to do just that.
"We know mods are part of the DNA of PC gaming and gaming communities as a whole," the post reads, adding, "we appreciate the creativity behind cosmetic and non-gameplay mods, which players can enjoy without negatively impacting those who play alongside them." However, Arrowhead notes, "Where we need to improve is how we protect players against modifications that create unfair advantages or negatively impact others."
Arrowhead explains that those gameplay modifications may no longer function; however, this also extends to "some non-malicious cosmetic mods," which the team notes "may require updates from their individual creators in order to keep working."
The update hasn't exactly gone down well with the community, as many note that they are using gameplay mods to fix lingering issues in the base game, such as stratagem bouncing and hitbox issues.
Be sure to check out our guide to everything found in the new Helldivers 2 Scope of Authority Warbond.
