Electronic Arts is banning some Linux gamers from Battlefield V

Some Linux gamers who are using Wine to play Battlefield V are finding themselves permanently banned from the game.

Player using the DXVK package are falling foul of Electronic Arts' anti-cheat system, seemingly because the DXVK Direct3D DLLs -- used to render 3D scenes in Wine -- are detected, for some reason, as being a cheat tool.

While annoying for those affected, the problem is not unheard of. As BleepingComputer notes, the DXVK project page itself issues a warning: "Manipulation of Direct3D libraries in multi-player games may be considered cheating and can get your account banned. This may also apply to single-player games with an embedded or dedicated multiplayer portion. Use at your own risk".

Complaints from gamers who have been hit with a ban can be found on the Lutris discussion forums. One banned player who contact Electronic Arts to find out what was going on received the following reply:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us regarding the action that was taken on your account.

The action pertains to the following violation:

Promote, encourage or take part in any activity involving hacking, cracking, phishing, taking advantage of exploits or cheats and/or distribution of counterfeit software and/or virtual currency/items

After thoroughly investigating your account and concern, we found that your account was actioned correctly and will not remove this sanction from your account.

Thank you,

EA Terms of Service

It does not seem as though Electronic Arts is going to be willing to backtrack on its decisions meaning there could be growing number of unhappy Linux gamers.